I never heard anything about this before. I wonder how close he actually came to signing for United
George Best's Attempted Comeback
- Thread starter lsd
- Start date
To be fair, he was probably pissed out of his mind at the time.
That would be after he left San Jose Earthquakes, but he didn't have anything left. He never really played much after that, if he had rejoined United it wouldn't have worked. He would have just damaged his reputation here.
For the best, he was at his greatest at United in the 60's, anything less than that wouldn't have been good for his legacy. I think United got relegated in his last season so I can understand why he may have felt there was unfinished business.
Tobermore United legend
I vaguely remember this -- at the time it always seemed unlikely, even if we were all a bit curious about it, but I do remember Big Ron making relatively encouraging noises when asked, saying something to the effect that even an aging Best might be better than many players in the league. I remember being torn - loving the idea of the return of a wayward hero but also thinking it would be awful if he showed up and could not manage the pace at his age. Was there some talk also of playing him in a more midfield role? It was a long time ago, memories are very faint on the details now.
It was for the best he didn't,
Shout out to that guy who runs that "classic Manchester United videos" channel. He's got some rare gems on there.
I think he'll struggle now to be honest.
It would be interesting to see him in the same team as the likes of Bryan Robson and McGrath etc.
Are you saying Bestie would struggle in todays game? With the billiard table pitches and the rules regarding tackling George Best would murder opponents, they wouldnt get near him. Best had as much natural ability as Ronaldo or Messi or any other player and with todays diets, treatments, the way players are cared for and their conditioning he would be as big a star now as he was in his pomp. Best beloings in an elite group of players including Pele, Di Stefano, Eusabio, Jairzhino, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Jimmy Greaves, Jim Baxter, Gordon Banks, Gianluigi Buffon, Lev Yashin, Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbaur, Thierry Henry, Tom Finney, Messi and the two Ronaldo's. Messi and C. Ronaldo are of course still playing but every single one of the others would have been as great today as they were in their hay days.
Aye he was pure class, as good as anyone.
No. I'm not saying that.
Would Best have made it nowadays to that level and be able to sustain it? Not so sure. I think he wouldn’t of got away with the alcoholism in the modern game.
Always find the likes of Best, Gazza etc extremely sad. So much talent ruined by their inner demons.
Your recollection is identical to mine. I was similarly torn; my concern was that even if he could still hack it on the field, his personal problems and associated media feeding frenzy weren’t going to go away.
Even bigger Christmas bonuses for the bar staff at the Griffin and the Amblehurst
Agreed.
He was a borderline embarrassment at Hibs the year before this, bloated and slow like someone doing a George Best tribute act.
No chance he was going to get near the United first team in 1981
There were comeback stories every week
Ronaldo coming back has nothing on George
Ronaldo coming back has nothing on George
It seemed the best response to that post. Yes.