A RETIRED journalist has spoken for the first time about how he was booked to travel with the Manchester United team on their ill-fated flight on February 6, 1958.

Today, as the world remembers the 60th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster, Don Hardisty, 88, reveals his editor at the Daily Mail cancelled his place two weeks before the crash - sending another colleague instead, who died in the crash.

Twenty-three people were killed, including eight Busby Babes, when the plane tried to take off in heavy snow at Munich Airport.

The team had been flying back from a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade and had stopped in Germany to refuel.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Don from Handforth, said: “In 1957 a new editor, Howard French, had come in to Manchester and decided to change the newsroom and start from scratch. He wanted me to change my name to ‘Don Hard’ but I refused.

“As a result of his appointment, I was made the Mail’s chief northern sports reporter replacing the much more respected and highly-regarded Eric Thompson, who became number two.

“It meant that I got to cover all the big matches and that is why I was booked to travel to go to Belgrade with the team, with our photographer Peter Howard and photo technician Ted Ellyard.

“However, just a couple of weeks before I was due to fly out, Howard went to the Mail’s Paris bureau.

“The new editor, Harry Myers, switched myself and Eric’s roles back round and the ticket was changed for Eric to fly to Belgrade.

“Eric was killed on that fateful flight although both Howard and Ted survived, because of the seats they had.”

Eric was one of eight journalists from Manchester killed, including Alf Clarke, of the Manchester Evening Chronicle, Don Davies of the Manchester Guardian, George Follows, of the Daily Herald, Tom Jackson of the Manchester Evening News, Henry Rose of the Daily Express, ex Manchester City goalkeeper turned journalist Frank Swift of the News of the World and Archie Ledbrooke of the Daily Mirror.

Don recalls: “On the day of the accident, I had nipped across Deansgate to get some tobacco when I was stopped by one of our copytakers, George Moss, who said: ‘You had better get back to the office because Manchester United have had a crash’.

“At the time I had no idea what he was talking about but when I got back in it was absolutely frenetic.

“All the sports editors across Manchester were talking to one another to get everybody’s story together and get it into print.

“I remember for a number of days everybody in the newsroom was knocked back emotionally but at the same time everybody was working hard to tell the story.”

Speaking about Eric, Don said. “I was still relatively young and learning the ropes and Eric was always quietly spoken, although to me and coming from Yorkshire, he was very well spoken.

“I remember he lived on Washway Road, Sale, although we didn’t really socialise outside of the office.

“Over the next couple of weeks I attended a number of funerals of colleagues including Eric’s, who left a wife and a son.”

Don spent more than 40 years reporting on sport for a variety of national newspapers.

He added: “I think I am probably the luckiest man alive.

“I always remember it. It was due to a change of editor that I wasn’t on that flight and Eric was.”