George Best was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A skillful dribbler, he is considered one of the greatest players of all time, along with being considered one of the most talented to play. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968 and came fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. Best received plaudits for his playing style, which combined pace, skill, balance, feints, goalscoring and the ability to get past defenders. His style of play captured the public's imagination, and in 1999 he was on the six-man short-list for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century. He was also an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
Best in 1976
Best grew up on the Cregagh estate, east Belfast. The playing fields in the estate where he played football as a boy, Cregagh Green, is protected for community recreation in perpetuity as a Fields in Trust Active Space.
The United Trinity statue of Best (left), Denis Law (centre) and Bobby Charlton (right) outside Old Trafford
Rear view looking towards the stadium
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United, or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in the English football league system. Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.
The Manchester United team at the start of the 1905–06 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division
The Busby Babes in 1955. Manager Matt Busby is pictured front right.
A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players' names
The United Trinity statue of George Best (left), Denis Law (centre) and Bobby Charlton (right) outside Old Trafford