George Best

From BillionQuotes

George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) is widely acknowledged to have been one of the greatest football players of all time, remembered for his halcyon days with Manchester United F.C. He played for the Northern Ireland team, but their failure to reach the final rounds of the World Cup denied him the ultimate global stage. Judging by the following, he was also in possession of a great wit.

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The Best of Best

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
"I used to go missing quite a lot... Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World."
(On David Beckham) "He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right."
"If I had been born ugly, you would never have heard of Pelé"
"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol. It was the worst 20 minutes of my life."
"Pelé called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life."
(When asked by Michael Parkinson how soon to kick off George had made love) "Half time!"
"I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep."
"I once said Gazza's IQ was less than his shirt number and he asked me: 'What's an IQ?' " (on Paul Gascoigne)
"I'd give all the Champagne I've ever drunk to be playing alongside him in a big European match at Old Trafford." (on Eric Cantona)
"I was in for 10 hours and had 40 pints - beating my previous record by 20 minutes." (on the blood transfusion after his liver transplant)
"That's what children do - throw food. That's not fighting. We were real men. We'd have chinned them." (on the infamous Battle of the Buffet between Manchester United and Arsenal)
"He's been very, very lucky, an average player who came into the game when it was short of personalities." (on Kevin Keegan)

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About Best

"I think I've found you a genius." (The telegram sent to Manchester United by talent scout Bob Bishop, who discovered a 15-year-old Best playing for Cregagh Boys' Club.)
"He's not George Best, but then again, no-one is." (Commentator Clive Tyldesley.)
"The closest I got to him was when we shook hands at the end of the game." (Northampton Town player Roy Fairfax, who had been marking Best when he scored six goals in an 8-2 FA Cup win for Man Utd in 1970.)
"Shellito was taken off suffering from twisted blood!" (United team-mate [[w:Pat Crerand|Pat Crerand] after Best had given Chelsea full-back Ken Shellito a torrid time.)
"He was able to use either foot - sometimes he seemed to have six." (Sir Matt Busby)
"So George, where did it all go wrong?" (The hotel bellboy who delivered champagne to Best's room and found him entertaining a scantily-clad Miss World on a bed covered with his winnings from the casino.)
"The only thing I have in common with George Best is that we come from the same place, play for the same club and were discovered by the same man" (Norman Whiteside.)
"After his first training session in heaven, George Best, from his favourite right wing, turned the head of God who was filling in at left-back.