Five reasons why Best was a genius

May 19, 2026 No Comments

Five reasons why Best was a geniusFigure caption, Sammy McIlroy played alongside George Best for Manchester United between 1971 and 1974BySimon Stone

Manchester United reporter

15 minutes ago

George Best would have been 80 on 22 May.

It is six decades since he started to dazzle home audiences, over 40 since he last played a game.

But Best is one of a rare breed whose legacy endures. Either in the colours of Manchester United or Northern Ireland, the highlights of his career encapsulate why many who saw him still argue he was the best player ever.

For those who are younger, whose parents were too young to see Best play, there is a modern-day comparison.

“Lionel Messi is close to Best in the way he plays. He can dribble, beat people, score goals and make goals,” reported another former United and Northern Ireland great Sammy McIlroy.

McIlroy counted Best as a hero when he was growing up in Belfast.

Best later became his mentor and a team-mate.

“Messi has got this amazing dribbling ability,” reported McIlroy.

“Best had that too but it was in the 1960s, when the conditions were much different to the way they are now.

“The pitches were terrible and your opponents wanted to hurt you. Norman Hunter, Tommy Smith and Ron Harris were good players but they were cruel in the way they played.

“It didn’t bother George. It didn’t matter who was dishing it out. He used to take the rough stuff, get up and say, ‘come on then, let’s have some more’.

McIlroy was 13 when he went to Windsor Park to watch Best produce what is dubbed as the ‘game of his life’ for Northern Ireland against Scotland.

“I never saw another performance like it in my life,” he reported. “It was a one-man show. He made me want to be a footballer. He made me want to join Manchester United.

“Everything came naturally to him. Left foot, right foot, shoot, head, tackle.”

But there was more to Best than what he did on matchday.

McIlroy recounts he was a fierce competitor in training. And, at odds with the devil-may-care attitude his off-field antics often portrayed, he was also a father figure to young Northern Irish boys like him who travelled to England with dreams of playing for Manchester United.

“He was a natural lad, a lovely lad,” reported McIlroy. “He spent a little bit of time with me, as he did with the all the other Belfast trialists that came over. George always had time for you. I really admired that.

“When I signed as an apprentice in 1969, I brought my mum and dad over and right away he came across and spoke to them. I was standing there listening to him telling my parents he would look after me.

“My dad’s eyes were just glued on Bestie. He never opened his mouth. He was just in awe of George.”

Here we’ve picked out five reasons why Best is regarded by many as one of the greatest players in history.

A superb finisher

Manchester United v Tottenham, February 1971 – Best scores his Stretford End lob

Sammy McIlroy: “The ball comes into the box. It’s headed out by Mike England. Big Pat (Jennings) comes and punches it, but it goes right to George. There’s a load of players around him in the penalty area, but he’s only got one thing in his mind about what to do.

“He’s lobbed the goalkeeper. He does it so well because it just falls underneath the bar. There’s actually two Spurs players on the line and he still lobs it into the goal. Absolutely fantastic.”

Brilliant balance

Best manages to stay on his feet to score the winner in a 2-1 League Cup win over Chelsea, October 1970

McIlroy: “I was actually at this game. John Aston slides Bestie through. He’s running straight at goal. Ron Harris, who was known as Chopper Harris in his day, takes him, I think, from the midriff.

“I don’t even think George sees Harris till the last moment when he comes and tries to take him out. But Best, with his bravery and his balance, stays up, goes round Peter Bonetti and slides the ball into the net. Then he falls down and I was thinking ‘he’s hurt’.

“But no, he just got up, took the acknowledgement of his team-mates. It was remarkable. Bravery and skill. There’s everything in that goal.”

Blistering pace

Best scored one of his most iconic goals in a 2-0 win over Sheffield United at Old Trafford in October 1971

McIlroy: “Big Alex (Stepney) takes a kick and Alan Gowling heads it on. Best looks up and he’s kind of passive. But no, he sees he’s about 25 yards from goal, takes on three or four Sheffield United players, goes across the goal and then puts it in the far corner.

“You see the Sheffield United defenders thinking ‘how did he do that?’. He just takes them all on.

“He is going away from goal, but then has the nous to put it in the far corner, leaving the goalkeeper no chance at all.”

A big-game player

Best scores for Manchester United in a 4-1 win over Benfica to win the 1968 European Cup

McIlroy: “This is European Cup final, where George goes around the goalkeeper and puts it in the back of the net. But the strange thing was Big Alex (Stepney) with the route one ball, which is something we very rarely did.

“It’s right down the centre of the Benfica defence. There is the flick on from Brian Kidd, which falls to George. George puts it through his legs of the last Benfica defender, goes into the box and the goalkeeper comes out. He goes round him and slides it in with his left foot into the net. Pure class.

“To score a goal like that in a European Cup final is a dream come true.”

Dribbling ability

Best scores a hat-trick for Manchester United in a 4-2 win over West Ham, September 1971

McIlroy: “This is George on the left wing up against (John) McDowell, the full-back. He turns him inside out a couple of times on the left-hand side, drives across the box, then he’s up against the great Bobby Moore, one of the best defenders in the world at the time.

“He shows him a dummy, goes past Moore and smashes it past the West Ham goalkeeper. That was a remarkable goal.”