George Best

[Bob Phillips]

Today, George Best finally succumbed to his demons, and departed this world aged 59.

George fully lived up to his name, he was the best, the greatest footballer the world has ever seen. The problems that he had in trying to handle the celebrity life style meant that we were deprived of his genius for all but a few years, but what a few years. He lit up the football world in a way that no-one has ever doen before, and probably never will again.

The over-inflated, over-paid egos that prance the current football stage cannot hold a candle to Georgie. He was braver, stronger, sharper, better balanced, more graceful and more gracious than they can ever be.

I for one am going to miss the Belfast boy, but I am glad that I was around to witness the flash of light that was George Best.

God bless, and thanks Georgie.

[CCkfm2000]

one of the greatest football player.

will be missed..... :beerchug:

[XL-Dennis]

What a great team Manchester United had in the late 60's:
George Best, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law

Success and be a genius on the pitch does not necessary mean the same in the life which propably made his career to short.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[brettdj]

:beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug:

But in all seriousness, there are some great anecdotes being told. Given I come from a country where soccer (football) has been on a par till recently with swimming I was unaware of just how good he was

Some of that old footage is simply brilliant, that cheeky lob, beating four defenders and goaling, it goes on and on. The story where he "nutmegged" Crufyt is favourite

RIP George

[Bob Phillips]

:beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug:

But in all seriousness, there are some great anecdotes being told. Given I come from a country where soccer (football) has been on a par till recently with swimming I was unaware of just how good he was

Some of that old footage is simply brilliant, that cheeky lob, beating four defenders and goaling, it goes on and on. The story where he "nutmegged" Crufyt is favourite

RIP George

Unfortunately Dave, none of those clips or those anecdotes do the man justice.

If you saw him live, you would have been amazed at just how small and how slight he was in comparison to those around him. And then you would see him play, and you would be amazed at how quick he was, both physically and mentally, how strong he was on the field, again physically and mentally, how impossibly balanced he was, he just couldn't be knocked down.

I have my own favourite memory of him. I was no Man U fan, but they were playing Southampton, just 20 miles from me, so I went to see George and Dennis Law (another great, not as great, but up there). Southampton had an old carthorse called Dennis Hollywood at left back, honest pro, but nothing more. George won the ball just in front of the Man U penalty area, laid it off, and raced forward to the centre circle. A couple of passes later, and the right back (forget who) laid a typically speculative ball up the right wing. Poor old Dennis Hollywood thought this was meat and drink and prepared hinself to hoof it back up the field (or more likely, into the stands). But he figured without George, who on seeing the ball played forward raced across from the centre circle, timing his run to perfection, arriving at the ball 2-3 yards in front of Hollywood. But not for George to take the ball and run at Hollywood, no instead he ran between Dennis and the ball, obscuring the ball at the crucial moment so that it sped past Dennis on one side whilst George sped past him on the other. By the time Dennis realised he had been mugged, George was 10 yards past him, on the wing, about to cross to a packed Southampton box. A perfect cross, a waist high volley from Bobby Charlton, and Southampton were one down.

That is the sort of memory that makes George so special to us. Many people over here have such memories, and when you ally that to his lovely, personable nature, and you have a rare being. It makes me smile just to think of him.

[TonyJollans]

I'm no football fan but there is no denying the man was one of the greats.

I met him once in a quiet bar in Manchester in about 1971. I was with someone who was a Man U fan and he went and asked for an autograph. Best, who was probably fed up with being approached like this, was the perfect gentleman about it, gave an autograph and had a brief pleasant chat after which we left him in peace and went about the serious student activity of drinking as much as possible in as short a time as possible, which I suppose is what he did too :)

He had many faults, but don't we all? And he was clearly well loved and will be missed.