On Saturday morning in Belfast, Northern Ireland, tens of thousands of mourning fans packed the streets to honor the memory of the legendary George Best, who passed away on Nov. 25 at the age of 59. Most often remembered for his days in the No. 7 shirt at Manchester United, the Northern Ireland international delighted fans throughout England and Europe with his flair and skill on the pitch.
Best would later have a similar impact here in the United States as he played six years in the North American Soccer League with three different teams.
Labeled as the greatest player of all time by none other than Pele, Best would was not just one of the best players in NASL history, ranking in the top 30 all-time in league history in goals, assists and points (54 goals and 54 assists in 139 games), but also one of the league's indelible faces known as much for his playboy lifestyle as his wizardry on the wing.
Though each would achieve success with the Northern Ireland National Team long after Best's international career had come to a close, FC Dallas head coach Colin Clarke and assistant coach Steve Morrow each have fond memories of Best, including playing in a testimonial for the legend at Windsor Park in Belfast in 1988, a match in which Clarke scored a goal.
Both Clarke and Morrow, as well as young Hoops defenders Drew Moor and David Wagenfuhr, who were training with Middlesbrough of the English Premier League at the time of Best's passing, shared their memories of the soccer legend, as well as some thoughts on the impact of his death.
"One of my earliest soccer memories was going to see a game in Belfast between Northern Ireland and England around 1972," said Clarke. "George Best was the first to try this, and its been tried only a few times since. Gordon Banks was in goal for England and he picked the ball up and was about to kick it out and Best came around the side and headed it out of his hands and scored. That's one of my earliest memories of ever watching a football game. They disallowed the goal, but that was him - cheeky, always trying stuff- a great, great player. He had everything. He could beat people off the dribble, score goals and one of his biggest attributes was his defensive qualities. He would get stuck in and put himself about. Back in the old days when you were allowed to get stuck in, he'd go over the top to people even though he wasn't very big. He really had everything."
Morrow also remembered Best fondly.
"I can remember my dad taking me to Windsor Park to watch him play," he said. "It was toward the end of his career as I was growing up, but even then it seemed that the whole country would come and see him. And that was a special memory for me growing up as a kid, just being able to go and watch him and cheer for him in our hometown, it was such a feeling. It was an honor and such a great introduction to soccer. Later, after he had retired, I was starting my international career and I was fortunate enough to play in his testimonial game in Belfast and be on the same field as him for a while, and that was a tremendous honor too.
"I don't think that people today realize or can understand what ability he had. If you watch tapes of him and see some of the things that he did, there wasn't a defender in the world that could run with him, and even the greatest defenders, people like Bobby Moore and such, just spoke so highly of him. You were so frightened by the skill that he had that he was nearly impossible to mark and deal with. I don't think that there are too many in the world today that you could compare him with."
The skill that Morrow spoke of is something that has only ever been witnessed on video tapes by today's young players like Moor and Wagenfuhr. But the immensity of the player that Best was and the impact of his death was not lost on the FC Dallas duo during their short time in England.
"It was all over the place the days before he died and then that day as well," Moor said. "It was on the front of all the papers and all they talked about on television. Then at the games that weekend, everyone wore black armbands and held moments of silence. It was incredible the way that it hit and affected the entire country."
"It was similar to when a President dies," Wagenfuhr added, trying to explain the scope of Best's passing. "I know that sounds kind of trite, but the closest thing that I can remember to it was when Ronald Reagan died last year."
"(Best) was before our time, but I knew of him, and I knew that he was one of the greatest players of all time from the way that people talked about him and the highlights that I had seen, but I didn't really know the impact that his death would have until it actually happened and I saw the entire country in mourning," added Moor.
Best never had the chance to play for a Dallas team during his all too short soccer career, but as Clarke, Morrow, Moor and Wagenfuhr's words can attest to, his legend and importance to the sport of soccer will never be forgotten there, or anywhere.
