Friday, November 25, 2005

Georgie Best Died 30 Years Ago

George Best Georgie Best is the only footballer I can remember from my school-age years living in England in the early 1970s.

He was a phenomenon in the UK and around the world. Despite Best’s popularity, I didn’t jump on the Manchester United bandwagon. Instead, I chose Leeds United as my favorite team. Along with Man United, the Leeds teams were at the top of the English game during this period, claiming the Division One championship in 1969 and capturing the FA Cup in 1972.

I don’t remember any players from the Leeds teams. But Best, as popular as Pelé at the time, fascinated me and the soccer-loving world. When my family returned to the US in 1973, however, my interest in Best and the English football scene quickly faded as I turned my attention to professional American football, baseball and basketball.

My departure from England coincided with Best’s descent from the superstar ranks of British football. His much publicized problems with alcohol shortened his playing career and soiled his reputation until he died today at the age of 59.

Mick Hume, editor of Spiked, wrote almost two years ago that the Georgie Best who mesmerized the world died a long time ago:

“When told of Elvis Presley’s death in 1977, John Lennon famously responded that ‘Elvis died when he went in the Army’. That departure, almost 20 years before, had marked the end of Elvis’s reign as the swivel-hipped king of rock’n’roll. By the same token, George ‘Georgie’ Best died 30 years ago, when he walked out of Old Trafford in January 1974 and brought to a premature end his reign as the swivel-ankled star of British football.”

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