This Day in History: 2022-10-12
Nr. 320
Trautmann Plays On With Broken Neck (1956)
After 75 minutes of the 1956 FA Cup final Manchester City were beating Birmingham City 3-1 when their goalkeeper Bert Trautmann dived at the feet of Peter Murphy. «It was like a train crash,» recalled the German. Trautmann had broken his neck, but, unaware, played on and made several crucial saves. An X-ray after the game showed he had snapped a vertebra in his neck and was fortunate to be alive. «That was the luckiest time of my life – lucky that I got to play in an FA Cup final and lucky that I could carry on playing after the injury,» he recalled.
Of the moment of impact Trautmann said, «I flew forward and he came into me… I got his thigh in my neck and in that moment I was gone.»
