{"id":289884,"date":"2023-09-14T23:33:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T23:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=289884"},"modified":"2023-09-14T23:33:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T23:33:56","slug":"where-it-all-began-for-george-best-at-man-utd-60-years-on-from-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/where-it-all-began-for-george-best-at-man-utd-60-years-on-from-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Where it all began for George Best at Man Utd, 60 years on from debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>As Man United take disciplinary action against Jadon Sancho, how would they have handled George Best? CHRIS WHEELER reflects on the legendary winger&#8217;s debut at Old Trafford, 60 years on<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>At just 17, the legendary winger celebrated with his landlady&#8217;s egg and chips\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Best remains one of the most colourful characters in footballing lore<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As Manchester United took disciplinary action against Jadon Sancho on Thursday, it was fascinating to think how the club would have handled their most errant and gifted right winger of all.<\/p>\n<p>United\u2019s decision to exclude Sancho from first-team training came on the 60th anniversary of George Best\u2019s debut for United on September 14, 1963. It was the start of a legendary career made famous by Best\u2019s outrageous skill, superstar lifestyle and tragic addiction to alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>Football often asks itself if the modern-day game could have saved mavericks like Best from themselves. We\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n<p>But at a time when Sancho and another United right winger, Antony, are in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, you have to say that no-one created headlines quite like Best.<\/p>\n<p>The rather scrawny 17-year-old Northern Irish kid who lined up against West Bromwich Albion that balmy autumn day at Old Trafford was still some way from becoming the most colourful player of his &#8211; or any &#8211; generation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/14\/22\/75450539-12520481-image-a-37_1694728711360.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>60 years ago, George Best made his Manchester United debut against West Bromwich Albion<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/14\/22\/75449453-0-image-m-29_1694726986110.jpg\" height=\"974\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The winger was just 17 when he had his start under Matt Busby during the 1963\/64 season<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/14\/22\/75449589-0-image-a-25_1694726943168.jpg\" height=\"432\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The England international remains one of the most colourful players in footballing lore (pictured in 1971)<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Best might never have played for United at all had he not been coaxed back to Manchester two years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The boy from the Cregagh estate in Belfast had jumped straight back on the ferry with another homesick young triallist, Eric McMordie, just 48 hours after docking in Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p>His father Dickie smoothed things over with Matt Busby and persuaded George to return to training with United\u2019s youngsters while working as an errand boy on the Manchester Ship Canal.<\/p>\n<p>By the time he made his senior debut for the club a couple of years later, he had enjoyed an unremarkable career playing largely for United\u2019s fourth-string B team, with just two appearances in the FA Youth Cup and four for the reserves.<\/p>\n<p>Busby and his assistant Jimmy Murphy had seen something, though, and decided that Best was ready for the first-team.<\/p>\n<p>Wary not to panic the teenager, Busby named Best as 12th man, in the days before substitutes, and put Ian Moir at No.7 even though he knew the Scot would miss the game due to injury.<\/p>\n<p>Best didn\u2019t even believe teammate Paddy Crerand when he told the youngster that he would be playing. However, he is said to have sat calmly reading the match programme, which didn\u2019t even mention his name, before kick-off.<\/p>\n<p>He did well to mask the pre-match nerves. Maybe it was the daunting prospect of making his debut in front of 50,453 fans inside Old Trafford in a game between the two teams occupying first and second place in the First Division.<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/14\/22\/75449565-0-image-a-30_1694727477610.jpg\" height=\"509\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Best later became famous for besting defenders with ease (pictured in 1971) but had a tougher time against West Brom hard man Graham Williams\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe it was the thought of going up against West Brom left-back Graham Williams, a notorious hard man who thought nothing about kicking a teenager up in the air.<\/p>\n<p>Best later recalled: \u2018I felt like a gladiator coming into the arena. Even later in my career, playing at Liverpool or Benfica, or in front of 130,000 at Real Madrid, nothing quite compared with that first time &#8211; it will be there until I die.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Out on the pitch I scanned the opposition for a glimpse of this character Williams, the man they said carried a club in either foot. I was also looking for fangs and a hairy face.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018But when I saw him, I was amazed. He seemed so small for a full-back and I remember thinking to myself, \u201cGeorgie boy, you\u2019ve got nothing to worry about\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It would be wrong to say Best destroyed Williams that day, in the same way he did to so many defenders during his career. In fact, he was switched to the left wing after taking some punishing treatment from the defender \u2018to get me away from this mad Welshman\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He only stayed on my side for about 15 minutes,\u2019 said Williams. \u2018He didn\u2019t get a kick &#8211; except from me!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>However, Best demonstrated the character to come back for more, and some of the dazzling skills that would one day make him famous as he had a hand in David Sadler\u2019s second-half goal that gave United a 1-0 win.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/14\/22\/75449563-0-image-a-26_1694726950501.jpg\" height=\"450\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The winger was an iconic presence for the side throughout the 1960s and 70s (pictured)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/14\/22\/75449463-0-image-a-27_1694726952981.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>George Best ended his career at United having made 470 appearances for the storied club<\/p>\n<p>That night, he is said to have written home to his parents after his landlady, Mrs Fullaway, cooked him egg and chips at his digs in Chorlton. For several years later, the schoolchildren would continue to knock on Best\u2019s door at Aycliffe Avenue and ask him to play football with them in the street.<\/p>\n<p>That was the first of his 470 appearances for United. It was another three months before Best made his second against Burnley, but he never looked back after that.<\/p>\n<p>The following April, he made his Northern Ireland debut against Wales in Swansea, once again coming up against Williams. This time, George won their duel hands down.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He gave me another couple of whacks in that game,\u2019 said Best, who died in 2005 at the age of 59. \u2018I saw him later at a dinner and I said, \u201cthis is what I look like from the front!\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12520481\/As-Man-United-disciplinary-action-against-Jadon-Sancho-handled-George-Best-CHRIS-WHEELER-reflects-legendary-wingers-debut-Old-Trafford-60-years-on.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Man United take disciplinary action against Jadon Sancho, how would they have handled George Best? CHRIS WHEELER reflects on the legendary winger&#8217;s debut at Old Trafford, 60 years on At just 17, the legendary winger celebrated with his landlady&#8217;s egg and chips\u00a0 Best remains one of the most colourful characters in footballing lore Listen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Where it all began for George Best at Man Utd, 60 years on from debut - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/where-it-all-began-for-george-best-at-man-utd-60-years-on-from-debut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where it all began for George Best at Man Utd, 60 years on from debut - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Man United take disciplinary action against Jadon Sancho, how would they have handled George Best? 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