City sorry for 'Munich' jibe

Manchester City have apologised to Manchester United after an article in their matchday programme referred to United players as 'Munichs'.

City chairman David Bernstein said the reference to the 1958 plane crash in which eight United players died should have been edited out.

It was included in an article about City fans' favourite chants of the year.

Bernstein said: "It got into the programme erroneously because it was not edited properly.

"It's the last thing that we would want to be associated with. It was a pure mistake and we are sorry for any offence that was caused to anybody. It will not happen again."

Bill Foulkes, one of the United players who survived the tragedy, said of the article: "I really cannot believe it. I just couldn't imagine anyone at City would do such a thing."

City will print a public apology to United in a future programme.

A statement from the club read: "In a recent matchday programme reference was made to Munich and Manchester United in a derogatory manner.

"The club wishes to distance itself from these views and in no way condones the comments made.

"It is regretful that human error in the editing of the City Boys fans page has caused upset amongst a number of both City and United supporters.

"A public apology will now appear in a future matchday programme."