The Magnificent Sevens. Frank Worrall
unique in the number of his gifts. He was skinny-looking but strong and courageous to a degree that compensated amply. Every aspect of ball control was perfectly natural to him from the start, and he had more confidence in his ability than I have seen in any other sportsman.’
His old pal, chat-show host Michael Parkinson, assessed his determination and talent in this way: ‘He was quick, two-footed, beautifully balanced. He could hit long and short passes with equal precision, was swift and fearless in the tackle and he reintroduced the verb “to dribble”. He was as imaginative and whimsical in midfield as he was economical and deadly given a chance at goal.’
I asked Bobby Robson where George stood in the all-time rankings. He said, ‘Certainly in the top three or four. He was the greatest player from the British Isles and would push Pelé, Puskas, Di Stefano and Maradona for the best ever. I will never forget the first time I saw him and was left almost gasping at his skills. He was that good – his talent would take your breath away. What I particularly loved about him was the way he would take a game by the scruff of the neck and change its outcome. He was always at the centre of things – never merely on the edge of things.’
I put the same question to Sir Alex Ferguson, who said, ‘No question about it, he was a genius, someone you would gladly pay to watch. He would have you on the edge of your seat. George will always be a legend here at Old Trafford.’
Despite their differences, when I asked Tommy Docherty about George, he was similarly effusive. ‘There is no argument – he was one of the greatest players ever at Man United. In his prime, no one could match him. If I had had him at the top end of his career, I would have built the team around him – and probably have made him my captain.’ An interesting one that – about the captaincy – given that Busby’s refusal to even consider Georgie as his skipper led to festering resentment and a feeling that he was not appreciated enough.
Arsène Wenger was also a fan. He told me, ‘George Best was an artist at the top of his trade. I used to watch him and be beguiled by the effect he could have on a match … how he could turn things around when it seemed all was lost. I think the closest we have to him in the modern game is Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho, but George was different class.’
That doyen of football writers, Brian Glanville, mused about George like this: ‘On a football field, he could do anything and everything, the very personification of “Total Football” before it was invented. For, no more than 5ft-8in tall, he could out-jump far bigger opponents to head spectacular goals. His ball control was consummate, his acceleration devastating, he could flip a coin over his shoulder and catch it in the top pocket of his jacket. Kicked, tripped and constantly fouled by tormented defenders, he rarely retaliated and was never intimidated.’
The Times also deftly summed up his footballing genius, all-round talent and mastery in a measured obituary on 25 November 2005, saying, ‘George Best was the most talented British football player of his and arguably of any generation. He appeared to play and read the game at a different pace from those around him. He possessed dribbling skills which, in the words of his team-mate Pat Crerand, could leave opposing defenders with “twisted blood”, and a balance which enabled him to ride or avert the most ruthless tackles, which his reputation and ability to humiliate the hard men of the game inevitably attracted.
‘His goal-scoring record was phenomenal for a winger. Best was quick, brave and a sublime passer of the ball when he could curb his natural inclination to hold on to it for as long as possible. At his best, he gave the impression that thought and execution were a seamless whole and, at all times, he approached the game with the passion and excitement of a young boy. Even the incomparable Pelé once called him “the greatest footballer in the world”.’
Ah, yes, those goalscoring feats – George made 466 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions, scoring 178 goals, from 1963–74. By the end of 1964, he was a permanent fixture in the first team and a key component of the so-called Holy Trinity of himself, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton. He was United’s top scorer for six consecutive seasons, and also topped the First Division scoring charts in 1967–68 with 28 goals. Not bad for a bloke not considered to be an out-and-out winger. Along the way, he helped United to win the Football League Championship in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968. In 1964, he had also pocketed an FA Youth Cup winners’ medal, inevitably scoring one of United’s goals in their 5-2 aggregate victory over Swindon Town.
Which leads us nicely to his greatest goals and matches. The ones that stand out for me are the 1966 European Cup quarter-final away leg to Benfica, the 1968 European Cup Final, the 8-2 FA Cup win at Northampton in 1970 and the miracle show and strike for San Jose Earthquakes in 1981 – the latter two we will discuss in the next chapter.
His brace of goals in Lisbon in 1966 was perhaps a watershed for George. From being a boy of magical potential, George Best was, literally overnight, transformed into a world-famous footballer and celebrity. Christened ‘El Beatle’ by a Portuguese newspaper, life would never be the same again for the boy who had to deal with a level of fame and fortune that no previous footballer had experienced.
Looking back at his performance in Lisbon sent shivers down my spine; it was remarkable, even more so when you think George was just 20 at the time and that this was the Benfica of Eusebio, who was presented with the European Footballer of the Year award before kick-off. United had won the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford, but would it be enough to take to Portugal? Busby’s instructions had been to keep it tight for the first 15 minutes and see how things went. With just 12 minutes gone, George had scored twice – once with a header, and the second a moment of magic as he beat three men before shooting past the goalkeeper. Afterwards, Busby turned to George and said wryly, ‘You obviously weren’t listening.’ George’s brace in the 5-1 triumph brought about Benfica’s first ever home defeat in the competition – they had been unbeaten in 19 matches – and propelled him to stardom.
Football writer David Miller would brilliantly go on to describe George’s display as ‘fantasy brought to life’. It was not difficult to see how apt that analysis was; George’s second goal of the night was undoubtedly one of his best ever, and even he himself accepts that as he explained in his final autobiography, the excellent Blessed: ‘I dipped a shoulder and swerved inside a defender and I just knew from that point that I was going to score … As I left the second defender trailing behind me, I looked up to see the keeper coming towards me … I knocked it past him … given the situation and the circumstances and the enormity of the game, it has to be one of my favourite goals ever.’
Even in 1966 there were portents that told us George’s story would not be a straightforward Roy of the Rovers tale like, say, Bobby Charlton’s. By now, he was on £160 a week, had a white 3.4-litre Jag, 70 shirts, a 1,000-strong fan club, a full-time secretary and half shares in a booming fashion boutique. Ian Wooldridge, that perceptive and incisive sportswriter of the Daily Mail, outlined the dangers facing Georgie-boy. ‘He could be destroyed by a broken leg while playing on the wing for Manchester United today,’ Wooldridge wrote, ‘or he could destroy himself while still searching for something to replace the stern Presbyterian discipline which once packed him off to church thrice every Sunday. It is the second thought that disturbs him daily.’
George backed up Wooldridge’s fears by admitting, ‘Wednesday ’til Saturday is murder. I know I’ve got to stay off the town and get to bed by eleven. But it drives me nuts. I don’t read. Well, only the sports pages. The only thing that keeps me sane is remembering that there’ll be a party on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday.’
Conquering Europe would have to wait for George. United fell to Partizan Belgrade in the semi-finals after their glory win over Benfica, losing 2-0 in the away leg – a match in which George injured a knee and missed the rest of the season. It was an injury that would trouble him throughout his career. United won the home leg 1-0 but went out 2-1 on aggregate, a result that left Busby devastated. He would describe it as his ‘lowest ebb’ since Munich. More despair would follow that season – with George sidelined, United could only finish fourth in Division One and missed out on Europe.
But after the darkness came the light – and it would now shine brighter