Sir Alex Ferguson once said that George Best never got injured because he was nimble enough to ride every scything tackle that his opponents threw at him. Maradona good, Pele better, George Best.
But for United fans, especially those who were alive to see the great men play, the ongoing dispute over who is the overlord between Best, Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton is unlikely to ever be resolved.
Different fans appreciate different types of player:
Best was the archetypal winger who, at a moment’s notice, could turn the opposition inside-out with one flurry of limbs and finish it off with a deft flick of his boot before the goalkeeper realised he was there.
It is one of football’s tragic stories of excess overcoming talent, a player who had the world at his feet only to trip over his laces – the unforeseen side-effect of being the Fifth Beatle.
Charlton’s influence was more straight-forward but no less effective, his dashes from midfield to the edge of the box followed by a hammer-strike into the top corner becoming something of a specialty among his wide-ranging skills.
A survivor of the Munich air crash, Charlton’s showed his resolve by not only being one of the most gifted members of the incomparable Busby Babes before they met their untimely demise, but to then pick himself up, through the grief of losing his friends and teammates, and go on to become one of the mainstays of Busby’s next masterpiece.
For just a snippet of what Charlton could do on the pitch watch the footage of the 1968 European Cup final.
And then Law, the classic centre-forward, a man who strikers to this day hope to emulate as the ball loops into the box while their marker tugs helplessly at their sleeves – it speaks volumes that United fans still regard him as one of the all-time greats despite his fateful goal for hated rivals Manchester City.
The Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman scored 667 goals in 1276 appearances between them, an astronomical figure that would have been much higher had Best’s latter years not been drowned in Miss World’s and alcohol.
Today marks 50 years since the holy trinity first played together.
The trio who are immortalised in a statue outside Old Trafford first played together in a 4-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on January 18 1964.
In that game they shared all four goals and Paddy Crerand, who was part of the United team that day, was astonished by their individual brilliance.
“George was just George: a total one-off,” Crerand told United’s website.
“Denis was brave as anything and a fantastic player.
“Then if somebody could tell me which was Bobby’s best foot – left or right – they’d be educating me. I could never tell.”
The trio then managed to score 37 goals in the 20 remaining games of the 1963/64 season before going onto win two First Division titles together as well as winning the European Cup in 1968 although Law was injured for the final against Benfica.
All three won the coveted Ballon d’Or award in the 1960s – the only United players to win the award until Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
Charlton is still United’s all-time record goal scorer while Law and Best are also in the top five sitting second and fifth respectively.
|
Player |
Appearances |
Goals |
|
Best |
470 |
179 |
|
Charlton |
758 |
249 |
|
Law |
404 |
237 |
|
Total |
1,632 |
665 |
United’s style of play in the Sixties was said to have reflected the mood of the time; swinging, free flowing and entertaining for all.
The infamous trio won many admirers with their style one of whom was former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who, at the unveiling of the ‘Holy Trinity’ statue in 2008, said:”My vivid memory is of the courage they displayed at all times, always wanting to get the ball.”
“It’s the one quality a player must always have, taking the ball and these players would always do that.
“That’s why they will always be remembered, for their daring and ability.”
Image courtesy of the_junes, with thanks
