Sixty years on, George Best still transcends football
George Best was a football genius. Of that, there is little doubt. Just read the quotes.
Pele labelled him the best to ever do it. Johan Cruyff described him as ‘unique’. Sir Alex Ferguson thought him ‘easily’ the greatest talent ever produced across the isles of Great Britain and Ireland.
The new adidas x MUFC x George Best collection, released earlier today, is a tribute to Best’s absolute peak as a footballer: the 1967/68 season which climaxed with the Northern Irishman inspiring United to become the first English club to win the European Cup (now Champions League).
That there is a George Best clothing range being released in 2024 is startling enough – which other players of his generation are being honoured in comparable ways, this far into the 21st century?
It's testament to the Belfast boy’s rare form of sporting genius. But it’s also accurate to say that Best’s enduring appeal goes way beyond his prowess with the ball.
His amazing talent was the foundation of his popularity and success, of course. But, really, we’re still talking about George Best – and we’re still fascinated by George Best - in 2024 - because he transcended sport in a way that few human beings ever do.
George Best: A cultural force Video
George Best: A cultural force
George Best remains a United legend and cultural force. Authenticity, style, and influence beyond the game...
Inevitably, as a footballer of remarkable skill, he was adored by Manchester United and Northern Ireland fans, for whom he delivered incredible goals and staggering results.
But you have to look beyond football to grasp just how seismic Best’s impact was on the wider culture during the 1960s and 1970s.
Imagine Lionel Messi had the looks of David Beckham and the dark, mysterious charisma of a leading Hollywood actor and you’d be onto something like the right path.
The 1960s were a time of social change in British culture. Like The Beatles in music, George was one of the beautiful, talented faces that told working-class kids everywhere that fame, riches and influence could too be theirs; that class and cultural barriers were not as secure as they had been before.
Best lapped it up. His impact bolstered by growing television coverage of football – including Match of the Day, which started the season after his debut – he embraced fashion modelling, opened his own boutiques, put his name to newspaper columns, football annuals, cartoon strips and jigsaws.
He endorsed chewing gum, pyjamas, cosmetics, shoes and football boots, earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year when footballers’ wages were still relatively modest.
He endorsed chewing gum, pyjamas, cosmetics, shoes and football boots, earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year when footballers’ wages were still relatively modest.
He appeared on Top of the Pops, dancing to the Rolling Stones’ The Last Time, dated supermodels, and commissioned an ultra-modern house in Bramhall that he would nickname ‘the Saturn Five Space Station House’.
This, then, was the first football celebrity, and Best’s popularity helped sell the game to broader sections of society than ever before.
Best '68: A genius at his peak
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There was a darker side to it, too. While George’s greatest desire was to entertain crowds – to leave them dizzy and bewildered by his tricks and cheekiness, almost like a magician – he also chased other highs away from the field.
His enthusiasm for alcohol is well acknowledged, and he later admitted that his genius was accompanied by a negative side.
“I was born with a great gift, and sometimes that comes with a destructive streak,” he mused. “Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town.”
But these issues arguably endeared him even more to a majority of the public. His frailties, shyness and, at times, clear melancholia humanised him.
All football enthusiasts envied his superhuman talents, but they could also relate to the unease they sensed within him. On one hand, he was an immortal football god in his own time; and yet, on the other, he was clearly a vulnerable, thoughtful human being.
All football enthusiasts envied his superhuman talents, but they could also relate to the unease they sensed within him. On one hand, he was an immortal football god in his own time; and yet, on the other, he was clearly a vulnerable, thoughtful human being.
George Best: A Memoir Video
George Best: A Memoir
Sir Michael Parkinson reminisces about his personal and professional relationship with George Best.
Even when his playing career finished – and he never played a game for United after the age of 27, having already plundered 179 goals – the public’s fascination with him persisted.
He was the inspiration for numerous biographies, and a film biopic. There was a Malaysian road movie, From Jemapoh to Manchester, that told the story of two boys setting out for Old Trafford, obsessed with Best’s appeal. George was also mentioned in the classic screen adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting.
As anyone who has followed the Oasis story will know, the Gallaghers are devout Blues, but still a photo of George made it onto the cover of their classic debut album Definitely Maybe. Another City fan, the late, great Mark E. Smith of the Manchester/Salford band The Fall, seemed intoxicated by Best's lonely charisma: “I remember seeing him just standing there for 80 minutes on this shabby pitch, holding his sleeves. United were basically playing without him. But then, in the last 10 minutes, he got the ball, dribbled all over the place and scored the equaliser and just walked off on his own.”
Keeping the Blues theme, former City manager Joe Mercer rhapsodised: “It seems impossible to hurt him. All manner of men have tried to intimidate him. Best merely glides along, riding tackles and brushing giants aside like leaves.”
El Beatle Video
El Beatle
MUTV Original | The story of George Best and his nickname, earned after a stand-out showing against Benfica in 1966...
Many of the cultural references noted date from the late 20th and early 21st century, only a few years before Best passed away, in 2005.
They are proof of how seductive George – both the player and the person – was to millions of people all over the globe. And we’re still exploring that, really.
The on-field genius underpins everything, but George’s character and fascinating off-field life are also rich sources of interest for football fans and non-football fans alike.
The word ‘legendary’ is ridiculously overused in football and in life – you’ve only got to reply to someone’s email these days before they’re making out like you’ve split the atom – but the life and times and talent of George Best do really seem to really fit the epithet ‘legendary’.
The word ‘legendary’ is ridiculously overused in football and in life – you’ve only got to reply to someone’s email these days before they’re making out like you’ve split the atom – but the life and times and talent of George Best do really seem to really fit the epithet ‘legendary’.
In thousands of years’ time, you wouldn’t be surprised if he had entered the realm of myth, and was being talked of like Achilles, Robin Hood or Finn McCool.
But hopefully, mythology won’t be required, and the humans of the future will still have access to all that magical footage.
But hopefully, mythology won’t be required, and the humans of the future will still have access to all that magical footage.
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