Football unites to celebrate Ian Greaves

THE football world united to celebrate the life of Shaw-born Ian Greaves at his funeral yesterday at Christ Church, Bolton.

And it was a measure of the high esteem in which the former Busby Babe, who was affectionately known as “Greavsie” throughout the game, was held that the luminaries at his funeral read like a who’s who of football.

Manchester United, for whom Greavsie won a league title in 1955/56 and appeared in the 1958 final of the FA Cup, were represented by Sir Alex Ferguson, Denis Law, Wilf McGuinness, David Sadler and secretary Ken Merrett.

Greavsie managed Bolton Wanderers during one of the most successful chapters in their history and many of his former players paid tribute.

They included Sam Allardyce, Paul Jones, Peter Reid, Frank Worthington and Peter Nicholson.

Jimmy Armfield, who took Greavsie on to the coaching staff when he managed Bolton and later recommended him for the top job, was present, as were managerial friends Stan Ternent, Sam Ellis and John Duncan.

And former Athletic player Bill Dearden also remembered a friend from his playing days at Boundary Park, along with cricketing team-mates from CLL club Crompton.

Greavsie was described as an “inspirational” figure by his grandson Paul Quinn, who played for Mossley last season.

And Greavsie’s son-in-law Gerry Quinn, a former Mossley manager, described him as a “leader of men” - adding it was a sign of the respect he commanded in football that so many ex-players and managers packed Christ Church to capacity.

Mr Quinn said his father-in-law often spoke about the trauma of attending funerals of team-mates who perished in the Munich air disaster, which he avoided as he was injured at the time.

He added that the recent deaths of close friends Frank Lord, a former team-mate at Boundary Park, and ex-Manchester United player Henry Cockburn, had hit him hard as he battled illness for the last 15 years of his life