18 George Best Quotes on Football

George Best quotes on football

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.'

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

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.'

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.'

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)

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)