George Best doesn't need to be introduced to you. He is one if not the greatest player ever to have played for Manchester United.
Best arrived at Old Trafford at the age of 15. But he returned home to Belfast almost straight away as he was homesick. But Matt Busby knew a good player when he saw one and this was one that Busby wasn't going to let go off! So Busby dragged him back to Old Trafford and from that day Busby became a father figure to the Irish youngster.
George Best made his debut on the 14th September 1963. He was only 17 years old at the time, United that day ended up 1-0 winners over West Brom.
After playing only 15 games for United, Best was called up for international duty for the Northern Ireland team. He played his first of 37 caps for his country.
In his first season at Old Trafford United ended up as runners-up in the league and were FA Cup semi-finalists. The season after United became champions of England. In the next six years Best won two championship medals, a European cup winners medal, and was voted both European player of the year and Footballer of the year.
During his career at United he played 466 games scoring a total of 178 goals. 6 of his goals were scored in an FA Cup tie at Northampton town, the record still stands today. He was the leagues top scorer in 1968 and in five seasons he netted more than 20 goals for United.
As Best became more and more loved, he became a regular front and back page superstar. The player who could delight and tantalize with his incredible speed and skill was a journalist's dream. He was young, handsome, single and rich. But with all this stardom was a lot of pressure, and living in the swinging sixties didn't help his game. He started to drink and was at a club every night. The papers the next morning were showing girls on each of his arms from the night before.
When Matt Busby retired, Bests father figure was gone and Best was left behind at a changing Old Trafford.
Best played his last game for United on New years day 1974. United lost 3-0 to QPR. After not turning up for training for a few days United had enough and tore up his contract.
He carried on playing for a few clubs after Old Trafford, but he was only playing for the money (allegedly). He played for Stockport, Fulham, Hibernian, and Bournemouth. He also had a spell in America and Ireland.
His record as a United player was exceptional and he was a very exciting player but the pressure in the end got to him. United will try a lot harder in the future not to lose such a big star in such conditions. That is why Alex Ferguson protects his younger players so well. Just imagine what Best could of done if he stayed at United for his whole career.
