George Best Quotes

George Best shares witty, reckless reflections on football, life and fame, perfect for readers who enjoy cheeky sports anecdotes.

50 quotes

1. 'Pain is temporary, glory...lasts forever!'

2. 'I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.'

3. 'I used to go missing quite a lot... Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World.'

4. [On David Beckham:] 'He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right.'

5. 'If I had been born ugly, you would never have heard of Pele.'

6. 'In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol. It was the worst 20 minutes of my life.'

7. 'Pele called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life.'

8. [When Michael Parkinson asked how soon before kick-off George had made love:] 'Half time!'

9. 'I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep.'

10. [On Paul Gascoigne:] 'I once said Gazza's IQ was less than his shirt number and he asked me: 'What's an IQ?''

11. [On Paul Gascoigne:] 'They say Paul Gascoigne is the new George Best but has he shagged three Miss Worlds?'

12. [On Eric Cantona:] 'I'd give all the Champagne I've ever drunk to be playing alongside him in a big European match at Old Trafford.'

13. 'I was in [for the blood transfusion after a liver transplant] for 10 hours and had 40 pints - beating my previous record by 20 minutes.'

14. [On the infamous Battle of the Buffet between Manchester United and Arsenal players:] 'That's what children do - throw food. That's not fighting. We were real men. We'd have chinned them.'

15. [On Kevin Keegan:] 'He's been very, very lucky, an average player who came into the game when it was short of personalities.'

16. 'Don't die like me!' (reportedly the final message of George Best)

17. 'Boss, I think I've found you a genius.' (The telegram sent to Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby by talent scout Bob Bishop, who discovered a 15-year-old Best playing for Cregagh Boys' Club.)

18. 'He's not George Best, but then again, no-one is.' (Commentator Clive Tyldesley.)

19. 'The closest I got to him was when we shook hands at the end of the game.' (Northampton Town player Roy Fairfax, who had been marking Best when he scored six goals in an 8-2 FA Cup win for Man Utd in 1970.)

20. 'Shellito was taken off suffering from twisted blood!' (United team-mate Pat Crerand after Best had given Chelsea full-back Ken Shellito a torrid time.)

21. 'He was able to use either foot - sometimes he seemed to have six.' (Sir Matt Busby)

22. 'So George, where did it all go wrong?' (The hotel bellboy who delivered champagne to Best's room and found him entertaining a scantily-clad Miss World on a bed covered with his winnings from the casino.)

23. 'The only thing I have in common with George Best is that we come from the same place, play for the same club and were discovered by the same man.' (Norman Whiteside)

24. 'After his first training session in heaven, George Best, from his favourite right wing, turned the head of God who was filling in at left-back. I would love him to save me a place in his team, George Best that is, not God.' (Eric Cantona has pays tribute to the late George Best)

25. 'What he had was unique, you can't coach it.', 'I think if you talk about Europe, you talk about five or six and if you talk about his qualities he'd always be in there. 'It was a short career but if you go back to the basic qualities he was exceptional.' [1] (Johan Cruyff)

26. 'Maradona good; Pele better; George Best' (A banner near the Best family home in the Cregagh Estate on the day of Best's funeral)

27. 'George Best invented rock 'n' roll football' (Former France and Juventus midfield great Michel Platini)

28. 'From the second best player in the world' (On a signed football left as tribute to George Best by Pele)

29. I want to be remembered for my football and the pleasure I gave people.

30. The best thing about being a dad? Well, I think it's just the thing that every man wants - to have a son and heir.

31. You can't trust very many people.

32. Me and a mate picked up two darling birds and they took us back to their flat. I went into the bedroom with my bird and she started getting undressed. I was that drunk I was standing there wondering how to get undressed without letting go of the award. I went to sit on the bed, missed it by four feet and ended up lying on the floor. I remember the bird looking down at me, and saying, ‘Some player of the year.’ Then I fell asleep. I woke up still clutching my award and staggered out of the flat. I hadn’t a bloody clue where I was.

33. Robert Redford used to be such a handsome man and now look at him: everything has dropped, expanded and turned a funny color.

34. Cristiano Ronaldo's was the most exciting debut I've ever seen. There have been a few players described as 'The New George Best' over the years, but this is the first time it's been a compliment to me.

35. There isn't a single player I would pay to watch. You can say Thierry Henry, he's a fabulous striker, with pace and power, but a great entertainer needs to have charisma, too. Does he have charisma? No.

36. I can remember earning £5,000 a game playing for Hibs at the end of the Seventies. They let me commute from London, train on the Friday and play on Saturday. That lasted until my friends at the Inland Revenue decided to take two-thirds. That wasn't very entertaining for me.

37. From the FA to UEFA and FIFA, there's a naivety, a lack of knowledge and understanding and packed with people who are out of touch.

38. There isn't a single player I would pay to watch. A great entertainer needs to have charisma.

39. To call Keegan a superstar is stretching a point.

40. I don't have any regrets. I made all my own decisions.

41. I was probably the first footballer ever to have a pop-star profile, and my agent was right when he said we could put my name on stair rods and sell them to people in bungalows.

42. When I look back on my life as a whole, it is impossible for me not to feel blessed.

43. I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak.

44. The people of Northern Ireland have sorted out my whole life.

45. Players today moan about the number of games, but when you're young, you can't play enough.

46. I've always been a bit of a gypsy.

47. I'm OK. Much better than on other occasions. It's true that I've made lots of mistakes but I've never tried to bother anyone. I want to stay alive, preferably in peace, without seeing every one of my mistakes in the papers, and on many occasions, even stories that are lies.

48. I used to rush home to see 'Match Of The Day.' Whatever I was doing, I wouldn't miss it.

49. I always wanted more - more of everything.

50. My one big regret is that I didn’t play on for 10 more years.