There would probably be no more fitting way for Manchester United to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster than by winning the European Cup, and Wayne Rooney revealed yesterday that Sir Bobby Charlton has been gently putting pressure on the players to do just that.

Having survived the air crash, Charlton went on to captain United to victory in the European Cup final ten years later, and Rooney is hoping to make it another special anniversary this season. “We spoke to Sir Bobby and he put a bit of pressure on us to win the European Cup,” the United and England forward said. “It would be a great achievement for us, not just for ourselves, but for the Busby Babes. Sir Bobby said how fitting it would be to win it this year of all years.”

Given his England commitments, Rooney, along with most of United’s other internationals, will not attend a memorial service in honour of the victims of the tragedy at Old Trafford this afternoon. About 950 people, including survivors from the crash, are expected to attend the event in a suite in the North Stand of the stadium.

The service, which will be conducted by the Rev John Boyers, the club’s chaplain, will start at 2.45pm, with a minute’s silence taking place at 3.04pm to coincide with the time of the crash.

Of the present squad, Gary Neville, the captain, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes will attend, along with former players such as Charlton, Denis Law, Bryan Robson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Other guests will include representatives from AC Milan, Red Star Belgrade and Shamrock Rovers, who played United in Europe during that fateful 1957-58 season, as well as from Bishop Auckland, who loaned United players after the disaster.

About half the guests will be supporters. Such was the number of requests that United received from fans wanting to attend, the club had to hold a ballot among season ticket-holders to determine who could go, with admission spread among different age groups. Those supporters unable to attend the memorial will be able to watch the service from a suite in the Stretford End.

The first half of the service will be a commemoration, while the second half will be more of a thanksgiving, featuring contributions from Eamonn Holmes, the television presenter and a trustee of the United Foundation, Charlton, Harry Gregg and Nobby Stiles, the former players, and David Meek, the former United correspondent of the Manchester Evening News.

Manchester City will wear a sponsor-free shirt, modelled by Micah Richards, left, away to Manchester United on Sunday in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.