Georgie Best

[hammer_scout51]

I realise the man has been his own worst enemy. However in footballing terms i rate him up with Pele Maradonna Cruyff etc. Hope you pull through Georgie.

[torontohammer]

I realise the man has been his own worst enemy. However in footballing terms i rate him up with Pele Maradonna Cruyff etc. Hope you pull through Georgie.
Yeah, the fifth Beatle as he was once known as. Not looking good, I'm afraid. I saw him play for (I think) Fort Lauderdale against the Toronto Blizzard in the old NASL in or around '79. He was slow and pudgy then and only touched the ball about three times. That was enough as he set-up all the goals for a FL win. I also remember seeing him years before that at Windsor park when he was sent-off against Scotland. Something about throwing mud at the referee...........

[TheMobyDick]

The greatest player I ever saw,never to have graced the World Stage.

[pething101]

Never saw him play since I did not really start following soccer professionally till around 1994 but from what I have heard about him, he is the soccer version of Mickey Mantle. A tragic hero whose flaws have eaten away at his life ultimately taking his life.

[TheMobyDick]

Pretty good analogy.

[norwaytips]

One of the best I ever saw, and I saw him a few times. Great player, but an awful selfish man. He killed himself and probably someone else, by taking the liver that could have saved them. In my book that takes him down below average. Tony.

[west_ham]

It's always sad to see such a talented person fade away like this.

It makes me think of the qualities that make a good professional footballer. I often think what factors go into this and it seems my view is somewhat different from other peoples.

I think you have to look at the whole measure of a man, not just his playing ability on the pitch but also his professionalism and personal qualities off the pitch.

George Best, as good a player as he was, is an example of a player who was very gifted on the pitch but never achieved full greatness as a player due to his problems off the pitch.

He could not control his desire for drink and this lead to a serious lack of professionalism and ultimately denied him the footballing greatness he could have achieved.

Compare him to Sir Bobby Moore. Bobby was a controlled player on the pitch and his talent was clear for all to see. He conducted himself well and also presented himself in a pleasant light and acted professionally. Consequently he went onto greater things than Best and I beleive this is no coincendence.

Now many would argue that Best was a more talent, skillful player than Moore and they may be right. However as a whole he was not a better professional footballer due to the reasons mentioned above. I just wish we had a football association today which recognised these qualities ahead of all else when selecting players to be awarded.

Still, it's a sad thing to happen to a once great player and I certainly hope he recovers to have another chance in life.

[torontohammer]

Agree with all comments, especially west ham from Peterlee. Funnily enough, an English friend of mine here in Toronto grew up idolizing Best, while my childhood idol, without a doubt was an Englishman. No surprise if I tell you it was Bobby Moore.

[hammer_scout51]

Agree with all comments, especially west ham from Peterlee. Funnily enough, an English friend of mine here in Toronto grew up idolizing Best, while my childhood idol, without a doubt was an Englishman. No surprise if I tell you it was Bobby Moore.


I'm the same as torontohammer. Some great comments here Tony and Chris spot on. My intention was to mention Best the footballer not the person. Although of course the its impossible not to see him as he obviously was in later years.
Bobby Moore was my idol and in more recent years Sir Trev. I do believe Bobby Moore was every bit as good as the likes of Pele, Best etc in his position. Thats what i believe he is best known for, with Beckenbuer maybe Maldini, The greatest defenders of all time. They do win matches matches, but the flashes of genius from the likes of Best Maradonna etc are shown on tv time and time again. How many times this year have we seen Maradonnas goal against us in 1986 this year. I would say i've seen it 3-4 times on various contests. Possible the greatest performance by a player ever was Moores against Pele in 1970. The only reason i've seen it since is because i bought the video.

Point of interest re the drink Chris. its widely believed in medical circles that Sir Bobby's bowl cancer may have been caused through alchol. Harry once told us that Bobby could drink everyone under the table. He would then turn up first for training as though he hadn't had a drink. Bobby fortunately or unfortunately could take the drink without any effect at the time. Bobby though was an upstanding gent, he bumped into my gran once in Romford road. He stopped apologised profusely and as a life long hammer it made her day.

Gazza and Georgie couldn't control their emotions or temper when drinking. Which is a great shame but as footballers i will remember them with affection.
Sir Bobby though was and always will be my hero.

[west_ham]

Point of interest re the drink Chris. its widely believed in medical circles that Sir Bobby's bowl cancer may have been caused through alchol. Harry once told us that Bobby could drink everyone under the table. He would then turn up first for training as though he hadn't had a drink. Bobby fortunately or unfortunately could take the drink without any effect at the time. Bobby though was an upstanding gent, he bumped into my gran once in Romford road. He stopped apologised profusely and as a life long hammer it made her day.

Apparently Best also used to turn up for a match after a skinful the night before but still play a blinder. Was the drink watered down back in those days? :o Or maybe less headache producing chemicals were used.

It's a persons attitude towards drink that makes the difference. There are people who drink alot but in moderation and those who just can't control it. That's the difference between Best and Moore to me.

Bowel cancer isn't really a disease I would normally associate with drinking, as it seems anyone can get it, but if Bobby did drink as much as you say then people are bound to pin it on that and we can't really rule it out.

Cirrhosis of the liver is a different story. Most of the time that comes through excessive drinking.

It was mentioned on one of these posts that Best was selfish on the pitch. It's only through selfishness that someone continues to drink so much for so many years before damaging his liver. To then go on drinking with the new liver shows that he may be so engrossed in himself that there only remains one person in the world who can help him.

Perhaps a close shave with death will be enough to change him.