Gerry Armstrong never hesitates when asked to name the best player he ever shared a pitch with.
“I played with John Barnes and Glenn Hoddle and a lot of great players,” the former Tottenham and Northern Ireland forward said. “I played against Diego Maradona. I played against some of the great stars, but George Best was unique.”
Best, who died at just 59 on November 25, 2005, occupies a special place in football’s history. He mixed a singular talent with the best and worst excesses of celebrity and, finally, a fatal addition to alcohol.
Armstrong made his Northern Ireland debut in 1977, the year in which Best’s own international career was coming to its end. It was the start of an enduring friendship off the pitch. On it, no one could match Best as far as Armstrong was concerned.
“People talk about his ability, his skill and the rest of it,” Armstrong added. “But it was his balance. He was like a ballerina. He’d swerve and he’d be at 45 degrees. The defenders are still going that way and he’s gone the other.”
For all he achieved, Best’s career feels unfulfilled. He played only 37 times for Northern Ireland, scoring nine times, never gracing a major international tournament.
With United he won two league titles, the club’s first European Cup, and a Ballon d’Or, scoring 179 goals in 470 appearances. But he left Old Trafford at the height of his powers aged just 27 after clashing with manager Tommy Docherty.
He went on to play for an eclectic array of clubs around the world without ever again reaching such heights, yet fans of every generation will still include him in any conversation of the greatest to play the game.
“Fans loved him,” Armstrong said. “He was a showman. When he was at United, he scored an unheard of number of goals for a winger.
“I talked to Bobby Charlton about him and Bobby said he used to give him the ball and make a run and get back in position and go, ‘I’m free, George’. George would go past one, Bobby says ‘George, I’m free’ and he goes past a second, past a third, the fourth and then scores.”
Best’s talent was sadly undermined by what happened off the pitch.
As his famous quip – “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars – the rest I just squandered” – suggests, the boy from east Belfast’s Cregagh estate took full advantage of the opportunities his ability offered him.
But his alcohol problems soon surfaced, and the spotlight on him took a considerable toll.
“He had pressure like you’ve never seen,” Armstrong said. “No other footballer had the demands and pressure he got. He started to fold under the pressure and that’s one of the reasons he went off the rails… “I’d have loved to have seen him do more in football for Northern Ireland, and in the UK, but it just wasn’t meant to be. He was just getting far too much abuse…I just wanted him to be happy. But it was so hard.”
