career
George Best aka The Belfast Boy & The Fifth Beatle (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a phenomenal footballer, famous for his glittering career as a winger at Manchester United and the Northern Ireland international team.
The career of George Best
A professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders.
When fit, he was an automatic choice for Northern Ireland, but he was unable to lead them to World Cup qualification, despite being capped 37 times and scoring nine goals.
back to the topClub Honours
During his club career, George won the Football League First Division with Manchester United in both 1965 and 1967. He then went on to lift the European Cup in 1968, again with Manchester United.
back to the topIndividual Honours
In 1968, he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year.
In 1999, he was voted 11th at the IFFHS European Player of the Century election, and 16th in the World Player of the Century election. Pelé named him as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list and Best was named 19th, behind Gerd Müller, at the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In his native Northern Ireland, the admiration for him is summed up by the local saying: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best."
back to the topClub Career
| Year | Teams | App | Goals |
| 1963 - 1974 | Manchester United | 361 | 138 |
| 1975 | Stockport County | 3 | 2 |
| 1975 - 1976 | Cork Celtic | 3 | 0 |
| 1976 - 1978 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 61 | 29 |
| 1976 - 1977 | Fulham FC | 47 | 10 |
| 1979 - 1980 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 33 | 7 |
| 1979 - 1980 | Hibernian FC | 22 | 3 |
| 1979 - 1981 | San Jose Earthquakes | 84 | 34 |
| 1983 | AFC Bournemouth | 5 | 0 |
| 1983 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 0 |
Total club appearances 623 with 223 goals.
back to the topInternational Career
| Year | Country | App | Goals |
| 1964 - 1978 | Northern Ireland | 37 | 9 |
Total international appearances for Northern Ireland; 37 with 9 goals.
back to the topTestimonial
On 8 August 1988, a testimonial match was held for Best at Windsor Park. Among the crowd were Sir Matt Busby and Bob Bishop, the scout who discovered Best, while those playing included Ossie Ardiles, Pat Jennings and Liam Brady.
Best scored twice, one goal from outside the box, the other from the penalty spot.
back to the topPost Football
In the late 1980s, Best narrated Streaker, a documentary on the streaking phenomenon, discussing the careers of people such as Erica Roe and Sheila Nicholls. In 1998, Best became a football pundit on the Sky Sports live show Soccer Saturday. His last appearnce on the show was 2004.
In November 2004, 58-year-old Best agreed to join Premier League club Portsmouth as a youth coach, citing his desire to get involved in football again.
back to the top- career of george best
- club honours
- individual honours
- club career
- international career
- testimonial
- post football
Information gathered from Wikipedia and other George Best resources.
