Football said goodbye this weekend to one of it's legendary names. A lot has been written and said about the impact Best had on the game, and I can only add my own voice to this.
George Best had everything as a player which is why he deserves to be thought of in the same breath as people like Pele and Maradona. I'm too young to have seen him at his prime, but I remember him playing 20 minutes or so in a Villa shirt during a match set up to help with the Bradford fire appeal. He was a bag of tricks even then. He had an aura about him that I never ever saw again on any other person. This is the man that Ron Atkinson wanted to bring back to Old Trafford in 1983..and who a young Ryan Giggs was often compared with during his early years at United.
There was something cool about Best. The guys all wanted to be him, and the girls all wanted to be with him. He was the first "pop star" footballer and his impact on the game can be felt today.
He was the ultimate entertainer. Poorly protected by referees, this guy could dazzle his way through the toughest tackles. He had no choice. He was that good that he could make some of the best defenders in the game look silly.
The one minute applause that has replaced the traditional silence at some matches this weekend is much deserved.
Whatever he might have done in his life since, the public never forget a showman.