George Best quotes - ‘I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep’ ‘In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life’ ‘If I had to choose between dribbling past 5 players and scoring from 40 yards at Anfield or pulling Miss World, it’d be a hard choice. Thankfully I’ve done both’ One of the all time greats on & off the pitch
Happy 82nd birthday to Scotland international Charlie Cooke (number 16 next to #11 George Best ), the fiery winger who made 299 appearances with Chelsea and captured the FA Cup (1970) and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1971), then joined the Los Angeles Aztecs in 1976 and built a 6-year NASL career that included stints with the Memphis Rogues and California Surf -- netting 2 all-NASL honors in the process, and a spell as the Rogues' player-coach -- and concluded with 2 MISL seasons with the Cleveland Force and the Dallas Sidekicks.
Soccer in the 1970s: Los Angeles Aztecs forward George Best defied the critics - and the odds - and got into some of the best physical shape of his life by jogging on the shore at Hermosa Beach in 1976.
NASL Memories: Fatherhood propelled San Jose Earthquakes forward George best to the cover of "Woman" magazine in 1981, including a 3-page story inside.
From ynfamedia (YNFA)... STORY OF THE DAY - George Best on Puskás: “I was with (Bobby) Charlton, (Denis) Law and Puskás, we were coaching a football academy in Australia. The youngsters did not respect Puskás, including making fun of his weight and age. We decided to let the guys challenge a coach to hit the crossbar 10 times in a row, obviously, they picked the old large guy. Dennis Law asked the kids how many they thought the old large coach would get out of ten. Most said less than five. I said ten. The old large guy stepped up and hit nine in a row. For the tenth shot, he scooped the ball in the air, bounced it off both shoulders and his head, then flicked it over with his heel and cannoned the ball off the crossbar on the volley. They all stood in silence, shocked, then one kid asked who he was, I replied, "To you, his name is Mr. Puskás".
"How baby Best got Dad off the bottle"...for about five minutes, apparently. A friend told me one of his jobs with the NASL Quakes was to find out which bar Best was at and try and sober him up before games...
George Best training at Fulham with his new teamates, including Rodney Marsh first on the left and Bobby Moore, right, 3rd September 1976.
Soccer in the 1970s: Los Angeles Aztecs co-owner Elton John shares a laugh with 2 of his employees, George Best and Bob McAlinden, at Memorial Coliseum.