William Moore may not achieve his dying wish of watching his beloved Manchester United lift the FA Cup at Wembley because he can’t get a ticket.

Three weeks ago doctors diagnosed the 80-year-old from Newton Heath with an aggressive and terminal brain tumour.

Since then his three daughters have been in a desperate race against time to get him a ticket for the May 21 final against Crystal Palace.

The grandfather had been a regular at Old Trafford until fifteen years ago when he became his wife Joan’s full-time carer. She had dementia.

When she died in December aged 80, he had more time on his hands and Wiliam’s family wanted to indulge his passion for the Reds.

Read more: FA Cup Final 2016: Kick-off time and Manchester United ticket allocation

But that wish became more urgent when he was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumour.

The retired water board ‘listener’ became an avowed United fan after meeting and becoming friends with ‘Busby Babe’ Duncan Edwards while the pair did their national service as 18-year-olds.

Watch: Emotional William Moore says he dreams of seeing FA Cup final

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

The pair played football together on their Army base in Oswestry.

William’s daughter Lorraine Phillips, 45, from Glossop, said: “My dad is a massive United fan but because he had to care for my mum for 15 years he never went to any matches. His priority was his wife.

Two months after my mum died, he was diagnosed with this brain tumour. We just want to get dad to see United one last time. We don’t want free tickets. We want to pay. We’ve tried everything but at the moment we are hitting a brick wall. We’ve been offered tickets for £500 but we can’t afford that. We just want to get him to see United one last time.

Read more: Outrage as Manchester United offer executive members FA Cup Final ticket incentive

“I’m beside myself. I’m going to lose both my parents within the year. I just want to get him to see United again.”

William, a former lance corporal who worked as a chef in the Army, said his daughters were ‘doing me proud’.

He said: “I would love to see United lift the cup in the final. That would be great.”

He added: “I ended up with a tumour in the brain. It’s like a kick up the backside. That’s how life deals you. I made 80, I suppose.”

William worked as a ‘listener’ for the water board for 30 years where he would use a piece of wood next to his ear to make out leaking water underground. “I was quite good at it. Obviously I was a good listener,” joked William.

Read: Manchester United FA Cup win over Crystal Palace CANNOT do for Van Gaal what it did for Sir Alex Ferguson

He recalled how he first met Duncan Edwards when the pair were doing their national service on an Army base in Oswestry.

He said: “He used to come into the kitchen and ask for one or two bits and to see if we wanted to kick a ball on the croft. We played every other day. He was a modest fellow really. He never said ‘I’m Duncan Edwards’ even though he was playing for England at the time. He just said ‘let’s have a kick about’ and that’s it. I used to go out and play with him now and again. I wasn’t even that interested in football then. He got me into it. He even invited us to Old Trafford to watch him. He waved at us at half-time.”

William fell out of touch with Edwards, who died in the 1958 Munich air disaster, but continued to watch United regularly, going to Wembley in 1968 to watch the Reds lift the European Cup. He hasn’t been back since.

Read: Why Manchester United's Ryan Giggs is desperate for another taste of FA Cup glory