William
Satinoff grave (1911 to 6th February 1958)
Willie was a Jewish businessman and fanatical supporter of
Manchester United - so fanatical that he was on the cusp of being a member of
the board. He made a fortune in the cotton trade in and around the Manchester
area. He knew Matt Busby so well that he
travelled with him and the Manchester United team on all of their European
exploits through 1956/57.
Sadly
he perished in that terrible accident on a snowy afternoon on the runway of the
airport in Munich. The “Busby Babe” footballers were quite famous but Willie
wasn’t but I thought I’d call at the Jewish Cemetery on the outskirts of
Manchester and find him anyway. I parked outside the cemetery on Barlow Moor
Row and had a coffee from the flask. It was Sunday morning at about 11am. From
my sitting position I could see it wasn’t a broad sprawling cemetery so I
guessed I’d be perhaps thirty minutes walking up and down the headstones.
However I entered the main gates, said hello to a few men inside suits and
under scull caps and found the headstone within thirty seconds.
Willie
has never ever been recognized in any way by Manchester United but I put a
stone in his grave to let other know someone recognised him. I was going to put
about thirty stones on so more people would look but thought better of it. He
was much older than the football players who died that day – an ancient 47
years old.
Quite
a few Jews entered the cemetery and seemed to know each other. I felt a little
out of place and sat in the car and observed anyone entering the cemetery. Most
were well dressed as though going to a wedding – even the boys were in suits.
Nobody was as scruffily dressed as I was. They all seemed to acknowledge one
another without knowing another. It must be quite warming to feel part of
something but I’m not very familiar with that notion.
