Bert Trautmann Tributes & A New Season

On 19^th July 2013, news reached us that Bert Trautmann had passed away in Spain at the age of 89. The man we had thought to be indestructible had lost his final battle.

The club has numerous tributes planned for the Newcastle match on Monday night. A wreath will be laid pre-match, there is an extensive tribute in the match programme, including a replication of the 1956 Cup final programme, a minutes’ applause will be carried out before kick-off and the players will wear black armbands, whilst Trautmann family members will be in attendance. Prior to that, an annual award in his memory was announced at City Live.

There have been calls for a permanent tribute to Bert over the summer by many fans, and the club have said that they will announce something in due time. I am normally loathed to agree with claims for renaming stands and bars and statues when ex-players die, but I cannot disagree this time. I don’t know what the rules are on naming stands and having statues outside the ground and the like, what with the ground not being fully owned by City, but I think it would help with the identity of the place, and better than having stands named after geographical positions. And Bert Trautmann above all is deserving of such an accolade in my opinion.

If you want to read about his amazing life, there are two highly-recommended biographies available: Trautmann: The Biography by Alan Rowlands and Trautmann’s Journey: From Hitler Youth to FA Cup legend by Catrine Clay, whilst occasionally an excellent documentary pops up on the Yesterday channel.

Elsewhere, and at long last the season is upon us. United have already put down their marker, whilst we learnt little from Chelsea’s humdrum 2-0 defeat of the Hull TIGERS. It’s now down to City to hit the road running.