George Best: fifteen jerseys, one immortal footballing signature
George Best is one of the great goalscorers in the history of Manchester United. Winner of the 1968 Ballon d'Or.
Whenever I revisit the story of George Best, I feel that numbers struggle to capture the person they attempt to describe. Appearances, goals, and trophies map out his journey but leave out something essential: that effortless grace with which he weaved through opponents, as if he held a secret to the game that the rest were still seeking.
As the Greek voter for the Ballon d'Or since 1988, I take a particular interest in his relationship with the award. In 1968, at just 22 years of age, the Northern Irish winger claimed the highest and most prestigious individual honor in world football. That recognition marked the pinnacle of his time at Manchester United, where his talent found a stage worthy of its brilliance.
For me, the primary and most profound image of him remains inextricably linked to Old Trafford. Rising through the youth ranks, he made his first-team debut in 1963 and remained with United until 1974—eleven seasons during which a young man from Belfast became a figure recognized far beyond the boundaries of the sport. Their shared journey yielded a trophy haul that included two English league titles, two Charity Shields, and the 1968 European Cup.
However, when tracing his career path after Manchester, that steadfast bond with a single club gives way to a succession of brief stints. That same footballing signature appears on different jerseys, in different stadiums, and under different skies. In this particular record, Best is linked to 15 different clubs, as his return to the Los Angeles Aztecs marked a second spell with the same team.
His nomadic journey began in 1974 with Jewish Guild in South Africa and Dunstable Town in England. Next came spells with Stockport County and Cork Celtic in Ireland. Reading these names, I reflect on how strange it must have been for a spectator at a smaller stadium to find themselves facing a footballer who, just a few years earlier, had reached the pinnacle of European football.
In 1976, I find him with the Los Angeles Aztecs. Then at Fulham, and subsequently back in California. America becomes a significant chapter in the twilight of his career: the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and the San Jose Earthquakes, with a stint at Hibernian in Scotland in between. His name travels with him, bringing to each new home the weight and allure of a legend already firmly established.
His journey continues in Asia, with Seiko and the Hong Kong Rangers. Then come Bournemouth, a spell in Australia with the Brisbane Lions, and (in 1984) Tobermore United in Northern Ireland. Europe, Africa, North America, Asia, and Oceania: five continents form a map that few footballing careers can rival.
However, I do not consider all these stints to be of equal significance. A long tenure at United and brief, fleeting stints belong to different categories. This distinction is necessary to view his story fairly and avoid treating every stopover as a full chapter of his on-field legacy.
What moves me is the distance between the beginning and the end. The young man who found his launchpad in Manchester became a footballing nomad, a player whose reputation often preceded his arrival. The fifteen different jerseys illustrate the scope of his journey. Yet, memory clings primarily to his figure hovering over the ball, his body balance, and that unexpected change of direction.
That is where I return, too: to the Best who made the difficult look natural. To the footballer who could switch locations and teams without ever losing his distinctive signature—a signature that, so many years later, remains readable without the need for translation.
Manos Staramopoulos
Journalist and Analyst of International Football and Affairs
Chief Editor English Zone of Discoveryfootball.com
Athens (Greece).
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