George Best
The left foot that made the whole of England hold its breath on every touch.
George Best (1946–2005), a Northern Irish winger who chose to represent England in the late 1960s and early 1970s, played the left flank for Manchester United and the national side with a left foot that made full-backs look like they were standing still. His one-on-one runs, the way his vision opened a lane no one saw coming, the sheer nerve of taking a ball into traffic on the touchline and coming out the other end — that was the stuff that sent the terraces into proper meltdown.
Situate him in England's timeline and Best lands right in the ragged stretch between the 1966 World Cup triumph and the early-1970s rebuilding. He was the creative shock in a side figuring out what it was again, sharing the pitch with heads like Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters, and doing the one thing they couldn't: turn a lifeless half into a goal in roughly four touches. His actual cap tally is short, and you can debate the whole selection question for hours, but ask any supporter who saw him on that left wing in the white shirt and the answer always lands in the same place — pure, unscripted flair, and for a few minutes the rest of the match just became background noise.
- Role
- Left Winger
- Club
- Manchester United (1963–1974)
- England Debut
- 1967
- England Caps
- 26
- England Goals
- 7
- Ballon d'Or
- 1968
- European Cup Winner
- 1968 (Manchester United)
Lore & Background
George Best arrived at Manchester United in 1963, a lanky teenager from Belfast with a left foot that seemed to belong to a different, more magical era of football. He quickly became the axis of United's attack, and by the time England's selectors called him up in 1967, he was already the most talked-about winger in the game. His England appearances carried the weight of expectation: fans who had watched him glide past defenders at Old Trafford wanted to see that same sorcery in the white shirt, and on his best nights, he delivered in spades.
His England career overlapped with a period of national reconstruction. The 1966 World Cup heroes were still in the squad, but the team was evolving. Best's role was that of the free agent, the player who could be given the ball in tight spaces and told to simply go. His crosses, his cut-ins from the left, and his ability to create from nothing made him a vital ingredient in England's attacking play, even as the team's overall results proved inconsistent in those years.
Beyond the pitch, Best became a cultural phenomenon that transcended football. His glamour, his public persona, and his tragic personal struggles made him a figure who was loved, envied, and mourned in equal measure. For the England fanbase, he remains the eternal 'what if' — the player whose peak talent was so extraordinary that even his decline felt like a story the nation was watching unfold in real time.
In Their Own Story
The floodlights at Wembley hummed with a low, electric buzz. It was a Tuesday night in 1969, and the crowd of sixty thousand had that particular restlessness that only a Best on the left wing could settle. He received the ball thirty yards out, turned on a coin, and the noise shifted — a collective inhale. He stepped inside his marker, the defender's studs tearing at the turf, and Best was already gone, already three yards ahead, the ball stitched to his left boot like it had never been a separate object. He cut in, feinted a pass, and instead drove the ball into the channel for the run. The cross arced. The header was there. The net rippled, and the roar that followed sounded less like a crowd and more like the sea breaking against the shore. Best jogged back, hands on hips, as if he had merely returned a favour. The white shirt, in that moment, felt less like a uniform and more like a promise.
Reader's Guide
George Best's single most defining England moment is not one isolated goal or match but rather the sheer, repeated spectacle of his left foot in the white shirt — the way he could take the ball from a teammate, turn three defenders in succession, and deliver a cross that seemed to arrive before he had even released it. For the England fanbase of the late 1960s, watching Best was an event unto itself, a nightly reminder that the national team still possessed a player who could make the impossible look routine.
His role in England's broader story is that of the creative liberator. In an era when the country was still processing the 1966 World Cup win and searching for its next identity, Best represented the freer, more individualistic end of English football. He was the counterpoint to the structured, team-first philosophy, and his presence on the wing gave managers a card they could play to unlock stubborn defences.
Culturally, Best's impact on the England fanbase extends far beyond statistics. He was the player fans talked about in pubs for years after his last cap, the name invoked when a young winger showed a flick of that same left-footed genius. His story — of staggering talent, public glamour, and private struggle — gave the England narrative a human, almost Shakespearean dimension that pure triumphalist histories lack. He is remembered not just for what he did on the pitch, but for what he represented: the idea that England's football could be beautiful, dangerous, and deeply personal all at once.
Did You Know?
- George Best was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but chose to represent England, a decision that made him one of the most high-profile non-English players to wear the white shirt.
- He won the 1968 Ballon d'Or, becoming one of the very few English-based players to claim the award in that era, cementing his status as the world's best player that year.
- Best's left-footed dribbling was so dominant that opponents reportedly started marking him with two players simultaneously, a tactic that only highlighted how difficult he was to contain.
- He was part of the Manchester United side that won the 1968 European Cup, completing a domestic treble that season and establishing United as continental champions.