On This Day – 7th February
It was fifty years ago to the today since George Best broke an FA Cup goalscoring record by scoring six for Manchester United against Northampton Town.
The match was played at Northampton’s former home, The County Ground and was to be Best’s first game back following a six-week suspension. This was the longest spell that any player had been suspended for. Best had a point to prove!
One of Northampton’s goalscorers Dixie McNeil was one of the first former players that I ever interviewed on this blog and can be found here
George Best was unplayable that day and he appears to glide across the muddy pitch on the videos of the game. He toys with the opposition and you can tell that he knows it’s going to be too easy for him.
After the game Best said “I don’t really class myself as a footballer, I call myself an entertainer” and it is easy to see why he thinks that. Although at times, when watching Best make defenders look silly, you can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the hapless opponents who are chasing his shadow.
But for those fans who cheered him on, I guess they were paying to see him entertain.
Another thing that Best was very good at was making the difficult things appear so easy. A perfect example of this is when Best gets free and is one-on-one with the Northampton goalkeeper and gives a quick dummy before leaving him in a heap on the floor.
Once Best hammers the ball into the unguarded net from only two or three yards out, he leans on the goalpost, almost looking tired of scoring such an easy goal! This can be seen on the 9:05 mark.
A real demolition job by Manchester United that day and of course by George Best. Northampton never got near him
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