John Giles paid a touching tribute to Harry Gregg after the Manchester United legend passed this week.

Giles was speaking to Off The Ball on Thursday evening, in the week that the former Manchester United goalkeeper passed away, aged 87.

The pair played for six years at Manchester United, during which the Munich air disaster wiped out the core of their Busby Babes.

Gregg was unanimously greeted as the hero of the hour, returning to the fuselage of the aeroplane to help save the lives of many aboard - including a mother and her young daughter.

"He was a hero on the pitch, and a bigger hero off the pitch," Giles said of his former Manchester United roommate.

"He didn't talk about it for years. Then he got to a stage where he talked about it a lot, which was most unusual.

"I didn't know him very well before Munich because I had just signed professional terms in 1957, when Harry arrived.

"He was always friendly with me, and he was a superstar at that time."

Harry Gregg - the teammate

As to what Gregg was like as a friend, Giles gives the impression of a caring, no-nonsense man.

"Harry wouldn't take fools very easily, he had a bit of a temper about him as well!

"He could handle himself on and off the pitch. He always had an opinion.

"I got in the team and played with Harry two or three years and I got to know him pretty well."

Defensive-minded players play better without worrying about what is behind them, and Gregg was a solid presence.

"He was a very brave goalkeeper," said Giles.

"He played in the team two weeks after the Munich air disaster and continued to play in the matches - he didn't have a break at all.

"I think he was the best goalkeeper in the 1958 World Cup finals.

"Harry was very unlucky with an injury to his shoulder at Old Trafford - he was never really quite the same after that."

Giles spoke about why Gregg never came to terms with his exit from the game, at the hands of Nat Lofthouse during the 1958 Cup final.

"He would have regarded the incident as a bit cowardly.

"In those days, you could attack the goalkeeper. But even by the standards of those days, it was a definite foul.

"He was jumping to claim the ball, and Nat Lofthouse came in and belted him into the back of the net.

"Harry hated Nat Lofthouse forever after that."

Harry Gregg - the hero

But Gregg wasn't particularly open about his terrible experiences in Munich for a long time.

"I left in 1963, and Harry wasn't talking about Munich at that particular time," Giles said.

"I roomed with Harry during a tour of America, but Munich wasn't on the agenda, at all.

"He wasn't talking to anybody about Munich. It was a few years after that that Harry opened up about it.

"It was terrible. Harry wasn't in the club long at that time.

"How he did it to get up after the disaster, do what he did, and play again after two weeks.

"It was incredible and goes to show his courage."

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