Reginald John Berry (1 June 1926 – 16 September 1994), also listed as John James Berry, was an English footballer. Berry joined Manchester United from

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in 1951. Despite his diminutive stature, he was a natural right winger with technique and pace. One of the Busby Babes, the February 1958 Munich air disaster brought his career to an end.

Personal life

Berry was born in Aldershot in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, the son of Mary (née O'Connor) and Reginald Berry, a Sergeant in the Royal Horse Artillery; he lived with his family on Crimea Road. As a boy, he played football for St Joseph's School in Aldershot and Aldershot YMCA, and on leaving school he worked as a projectionist for a local cinema. He tried to sign for Aldershot F.C. but was told he was too short. During service with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was brought to the attention of

and signed as a professional at St Andrews in 1944. Injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster brought his footballing career to an end at the age of 31. When he woke up he was totally unaware of the plane crash, his injuries having caused mild

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

. A month after he regained consciousness, he found out about the crash from seeing a newspaper. He spent two months in hospital with a fractured skull, a broken jaw, a broken elbow, a broken pelvis, and a broken leg. All of his teeth had to be removed while treating his jaw injuries. He only found out which of his teammates had been killed some time after he returned to England. When still in hospital, he would complain to manager Matt Busby that his teammate Tommy Taylor was a poor friend for not visiting him, unaware that Taylor had been killed. Doctors treating Berry felt that he was not well enough to be told that any of his colleagues had died at the time. Berry died of cancer in a hospice in Farnham in Surrey at the age of 68 in September 1994 after a short illness and was buried in the Catholic section at Aldershot Cemetery. He was the first surviving player of the Munich air disaster to have died. He was survived by his wife Hilda Doreen née Reeves (1928–2016), whom he married at Aldershot in 1948 and his sons Neil (who was later the head teacher of Brampton Manor School), and twins Paul (born 1952) and Craig Andrew David (1952–1995).

Career

In 1951, Matt Busby paid Birmingham City £25,000 to bring Berry to Manchester United. Berry played 277 matches for Manchester United, scoring 44 goals along the way, including helping Manchester United win three league titles. He played regularly for the first six seasons, before losing his place in the starting XI to youngster Kenny Morgans. Manchester United FC 1957

Berry was also capped four times by England while playing for Manchester United, his chances of regular international action inevitably restricted by the form of

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while st ...

and Tom Finney on the wing. His first job after retiring from football was with Massey Ferguson at

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Trafford, Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Unt ...

, but in 1960 he was asked to leave the Manchester United-owned house to accommodate new signing Maurice Setters, and he left the Manchester area to return to Aldershot. He later ran a sports business with his younger brother Peter in Cove, a village near Aldershot, until the 1980s. Peter was also a professional footballer, most notably with Crystal Palace. They also ran the sports shop Berry Brothers at Queensmead in

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

. Johnny Berry spent the final years of his working life as a storeman in a local television warehouse.

Depiction in media

Neil Berry published a book in 2007, ''The Forgotten Babe'', describing his father's years at Manchester United.

Honours

Manchester United * Football League First Division: 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57 * FA Charity Shield: 1952, 1956,

1957 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

References

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCInfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Johnny 1926 births 1994 deaths Burials in Hampshire Military personnel from Aldershot Sportspeople from Aldershot Royal Artillery personnel British Army personnel of World War II English footballers Association football wingers Manchester United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents England B international footballers England international footballers English Football League players English Football League representative players Footballers from Hampshire FA Cup Final players