Football programmes belonging to a journalist who died in the Munich Air Disaster 50 years ago could fetch £20,000 when they go under the hammer next month.

Tom Jackson’s collection, left, spans a decade of Manchester United matches from 1947 while he was football writer on the Manchester Evening News.

He was one of eight journalists killed in 1958 when a plane carrying the United football team and reporters crashed on a airport runway in the German city.

Tom was just 46 when he was killed and the collection has remained in the possession of his son Mike, now 62, who was 11 when his father died.

He learned of his father’s death watching the news on TV with his mother and aunty.

Mike said: “They do bring back memories of dad, but to be honest, it’s a case of how many times you can look at them.

“They’ve been in a cupboard for a few years now and the anniversary year seemed the right time to sell them so someone else could enjoy them as well.”

Tom was a lifelong fan of the ‘Red Devils’ and started reporting on the team in 1934.

He continued to attend matches after a six-year spell in the military during the Second World War and also penned a column in the matchday programme.

A brass engraved plaque commission by the MEN in 1958 in Tom’s memory still sits about the sports desk today.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the crash in February the Evening News reprinted news pages from the 1958 edition which carried the story of the disaster.

The programmes are bound in ten volumes and include Tom’s written notes on team changes, attendances and scorers. They go on auction at Bonhams in Chester on November 19.