Millions of  England football fans are hoping – some against hope, that a picture of captain Rio Ferdinand holding aloft the World Cup will be splashed on the front pages of the global media on the morning of July 12 just like the one of  former captain Bobby Moore was on that unforgettable day in 1966. Football, like life itself is full of unanswered ‘Ifs’ and the question must be asked whether that iconic picture of  Moore would have ever appeared IF…

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The Munich air crash in 1958 en route home from a European Cup quarter final success in Belgrade became a defining feature of  United’s identity. The Champions League finale 41 years later against Bayern Munich in Barcelona embellished the legend the late, two goal flourish consistent with the thrill demand lay down by Sir Matt Busby’s Babes.

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Football can offer many rewards both financial and otherwise for those who are successful yet the good days can come to an end at a relatively young age. One such player was Norman Whiteside whose career was certainly not so much a fairy tale as a roller coaster ride of wonderful highs and devastating lows because of chronic injuries.

He will always be remembered for being the youngest at everything. At 17 he was the youngest United player to play for the first team since Duncan Edwards, the youngest to score in an FA Cup Final and the youngest to appear in the 1982 World Cup Finals for Northern Ireland. Those same finals saw him break the previous record set by Pele as the youngest player ever to appear in a World Cup aged 17 years and 41 days old.

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