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Friday 2 June 2023 Dublin: 14°C

# George Best

All time
# Genius Week
‘The only time I got near George Best was in the queue for the jacks’
How do you stop the best players on the planet weaving their magic? Garry Doyle spoke to the men who got up close and personal with George Best, Pele, Maradona, Rory McIlroy and Jonah Lomu.
# best pals
George and Me: 'I owe him a great deal and couldn't pay him back over two lifetimes'
Bobby McAlinden first met George Best when they were both fifteen. They became team-mates, business partners and lifelong friends.
# memory lane
John Dempsey: The King’s Road, Steve McQueen, and Chelsea and Ireland in the 1970s
Born in London to Irish parents, Dempsey was a member of the first Chelsea team to win the FA Cup, but found success harder to come by with Ireland.
# Interview
'I was 13 or 14. I was growing up seeing all these people taking heroin and dying from it'
Ireland legend Olivia O’Toole reflects on her career and discusses the future of football in the country.
# Legend
Photos: George Best statue unveiled in Belfast
Hundreds turned out for the unveiling of the statue for the Man Utd and Northern Ireland legend yesterday.
# rock 'n' roll soccer
'I was an apprentice down the shipyard so it was just a privilege to be on the same field': Cruyff and the Irishman
How Bill Irwin from the Ards Peninsula in County Down ended up playing with and against football’s biggest stars.
# Red all over
George Best's chaos, his Cork boss and a club in crisis: when United last faced Huddersfield
The sides meet this weekend for the first time since March 1972.
# column
Northern success always presents us in the south with a dilemma
Tommy Martin on Brexit, the Irish Open and how sport in Ireland is best served by the softest of borders.
# George Best
'When I saw the tears in Busby's eyes, I realised the depth of their relationship and what George turned away'
Inside ‘George Best: All By Himself,’ an extraordinary, sobering look at the life and times of George Best.
# The Belfast Boy
Trailer released for new George Best film set for Irish premiere this month
George Best: All By Himself hits cinemas on 24 February after screenings at the Dublin and Belfast Film Festivals.
# Interview
‘It’s a shame in life when a person looks at the colour of your skin and doesn’t like you’
Former West Ham star Clyde Best chats to The42 about being one of the first high-profile black footballers to play in the English top flight.
# Legend
‘You start thinking about Best in a different way because you’re forced to look at him’
A lost film about the Manchester legend is showing in the IFI in Dublin tonight.
# good reads
Tyrone's answer to George Best and the world's best gambler: the week's best sportswriting
Get yourself a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable, we’ve got some cracking articles just a click away.
# Anniversary
George Best's first TV interview: 'I've saved up about £700 and I'm hoping to get a car soon'
In 1964, the teenager had just made his debut for Manchester United and was on the cusp of super-stardom.
# Anniversary
17 of the most memorable George Best quotes
It’s 10 years today since the United legend’s death.
# Anniversary
'He hugged me, kissed me on the cheek and said 'Ken, it's great to see you''
Former Irish underage international Ken Fogarty played alongside and against George Best during the glory days of the NASL.
# george who?
Man United 'fan' of 30 years appears on Soccer AM and has no idea who George Best is
But he instantly recognised Karel Poborsky.
# Simply the Best
'Messi is probably the most similar psychologically to Best in how he reads the game'
Matthew Nolan says only one player could star in a movie similar to the ‘lost’ George Best one.
# filthy
This George Best-esque Wrexham AFC goal from the lower leagues has just made our Sunday
Dom Vose slalomed his way past half of the Gateshead team before firing to the net.
# Looking Back
A long lost George Best art film is being revived later this month
A new Irish score is set to be performed for the first time at the event.
# Opinion
There's no room for 2 Irish legends in Juan Mata's all-time Man United XI
Eric Cantona, Bobby Charlton and Peter Schmeichel make the cut, however.
# Stars
13 past big-name footballers who once played in the League of Ireland
Following Damien Duff’s move to Shamrock Rovers this week, we recall other big-name players who have played in the LOI.
# Anniversary
It's 50 years since a teenage George Best and Man United took English football by storm
The late Northern Irishman’s 10 goals in 41 league appearances helped inspire the club’s title triumph.
# Trivia
Quiz: How big a Manchester United fan are you?
Do you know the club inside-out like Alex Ferguson or are you as clueless as Robinho?
# essential reading
George Best's time in Cork and the Louis Van Gaal dossier; the week's best sportswriting
Also, how Ferguson’s high school American football team are coping amidst the chaos.
# good reads
27 sports books to spend your Christmas vouchers on
Featuring Jonny Sexton, George Best, Owen Mulligan and much more…
# East Belfast
UVF mural with Martin Luther King quote replaces George Best tribute
Work on the painting was suspended earlier this month after community leaders intervened, but it has since been completed.
# saffrons
22 signs that you’re an Antrim sports fan
Now with added AP McCoy and Willie John McBride.
# conjecture
Opinion: David Beckham may have been a limited footballer, but he was still a credit to his sport
After the former Manchester United star announced his decision to retire yesterday, we assess his legacy.
# George Best
Want to stay in George Best's childhood home?
The house that George Best grew up in is after being turned into a holiday home in Belfast.
Voices
Column: Youth drinking problem? Perhaps we should look at ourselves…
The Phoenix Park concert has highlighted the problem of young people and alcohol, writes Fiona Ryan – but the problems caused by parental drinking go largely unremarked.
Calls for all Ireland soccer team at Sinn Féin Ard Fheis
As the Republic of Ireland head for Euro 2012, there was plenty of support for the merging of Trap’s men with Northern Ireland at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Kerry yesterday.
# Golazos
Going it alone: 10 of the best ever solo goals
There’s no ‘i’ in ‘team’, but there are plenty in ‘individual brilliance’.
# Well read
The Sports Pages: some of the week’s best sportswriting
Joe DiMaggio, Dan Wheldon, the beauty of football and a real-life answer to The Wrestler: it’s an extra-special, double edition of our weekly round-up.
# Samba
Wayne Rooney is the white Pele, says Fergie
The United striker is just like the Brazilian legend. And not in a men’s personal health kind of way.
# George Best
George Best musical kicks off in Dublin
Dancing Shoes – The George Best Story tells of the colourful life of the flamboyant winger who died of organ failure aged 59 in 2005.
# Well read
The Sunday Papers: some of the week’s best sportswriting
Get the kettle on and put your feet up.
# And the winner is..
The Magnificent Seven: overlooked sports personalities
On the weekend that the BBC pick their sports personality of the year, Niall Kelly reflects on the ones that got away.