Cardiff boss reveals Aberfan emotions after emotional tribute

“I had an awareness of what happened there, but I never knew the depth of what went on or what people experienced,” Barry-Murphy said following the 1-0 victory.

“It was very important for the players to watch the footage to understand what the people there have been through.

“We organised to go there and it was very, very important.

“While you’re there, it’s naturally emotionally very difficult because you start to see the gravestones of the people who passed there.

“But also the stories of the different people there that day. It’s very difficult to comprehend what they went through.

“Football is football and we couldn’t guarantee that we were going to win today, but we had to produce a performance that looked as if we understood what we were playing for.

“On such a poignant day, it’s very important that we played the way we did.”

Barry-Murphy had written in the matchday programme – including a front cover displayed the clock found in the rubble that stopped at the time of the disaster – that the people of the community had shown what coming together means “in the most unimaginable of circumstances” and wanted his side to display the same qualities.

The game also saw a minute’s silence held before kick-off, respected impeccably by Cardiff and Birmingham fans.

Barry-Murphy revealed that academy coach, Dennis Moss, also made the visit to Aberfan 24 hours before the 60th anniversary commemorations having been among the rescuers.

“He was one of the first responders as an 18-year-old from Cardiff who shot up there to start pulling bodies from the rubble,” he said.

“He was there with us and you see the effect it had on him to be back there.”