50 years of George Best - The first superstar footballer

George Best holds up his 1968 Footballer Of The Year award.

With Best becoming a complete player, he was at the heart of Manchester United’s holy trinity of Law, Best and Charlton. It used to simply roll off the tongue – Best-Law-Charlton – as the trio produced one magical moment after another on the pitch to become one of the most fearsome triumvirate of attack in Europe. And although they were different in terms of their abilities and lifestyles, they had one thing in common – to get United to the pinnacle of domestic and European football. The trio, led by Georgie’s heroics, helped United win their first league title in the post-Munich era in 1965.

Then, in March 1966, came the match of George Best’s career – a European Cup quarterfinal against the legendary Eusebio’s Benfica at the Stadium of Light – when the 19-year-old well and truly announced himself to the world stage. It was a match where United weren’t expected to come away with anything. But when you’re a genius like George Best, there are often days when everything falls into place and you become almost unplayable.

Georgie, on that particular day, was on fire. He was fast, he was quick, he was everything that you wanted him to be. Inspired by Best, who scored two goals of exceptional quality on the night, United ran out 5-1 winners in a match that would go down in history as one of Best’s all-time great performances. Things would never be the same again for him.

With pop-star looks and a distinctive sense of style, he returned from Lisbon to a hero’s welcome and became an instant celebrity. The Portuguese media nicknamed him ‘El Beatle’ (fifth Beatle of a rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960). He became a worldwide star overnight. The chiselled face with flowing dark hair and twinkling black eyes – he could stop traffic in those days. The women wanted to go out with him, while the men wanted to be him.

He became the first footballer who attracted legions of female admirers into the stadiums. Every time he got the ball, thousands of teenage girls used to scream and shout in the stands for him. Footballers, before George Best, were anything but glamorous. Georgie, however, made the jump from football into show business. He became the first footballer to have all kinds of adulation and madness surround him, from both the media and the masses.

With his football superstar status confirmed, George Best was an advertiser’s dream. Sex appeal and football were a potent combination, and Georgie was the only one who combined both of them so explosively. He was so marketable that he could have sold snow to the Eskimos.

By the late 60s, traces of that shy, skinny lad from Belfast flew by, as it was a 24-hour party amongst booze, cars and women. He was like the pied piper – wherever he went, everyone followed.

As the charisma gushed forth off the pitch, George Best on the pitch was no less spectacular. After another league triumph in 1967, he became the scorn of Benfica again in the 1968 European Cup final, typically going the hard way by rounding the keeper while giving United an extra-time 2-1 lead en route to a 4-1 success. His 32 goals in 53 appearances for United that season earned him the European Footballer of Year award too.