George Best Quotes

“Even at the height of my fame, fifty per cent of the people who saw me wanted a fight; it’s the downside of being a star player.”

“Every team has a hard man. We had Nobby Stiles, Chelsea had Chopper, Arsenal had Peter Storey, Liverpool had Tommy Smith. Leeds had eleven of them.”

“Everyone went crazy over Wayne Rooney, but I get more excited by Cristiano Ronaldo.”

“Football is a sad game.”

“I always wanted more – more of everything.”

“I definitely don't think that money can buy you love. It can buy you affection but certainly not love.”

“I don't recognize myself in the players I see today. There's only one who excites me, and that is Thierry Henry. He's not just a great footballer, he's a showman, an entertainer.”

“I found it difficult to watch myself playing on TV because I couldn't identify with the person on the screen. I couldn't get to grips with it. It was as if it was all happening to someone else.”

“I must be the only person in the world who's looking forward to going into hospital. I can't wait to get it over and done with.”

“I never went out in the morning with the intention of getting drunk. It just happened.”

“I took a penalty against Chelsea in 1971 and Peter Bonetti saved it. I wish I'd sent it the other way.”

“I used to dream about taking the ball round the keeper, stopping it on the line and then getting on my hands and knees and heading it into the net. When I scored against Benfica in the 1968 European Cup final I nearly did it. I left the keeper for dead but then I chickened out. I might have given the boss a heart attack!”

“I used to go missing a lot... Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World.”

“I want to be remembered for my football and the pleasure I gave people.”

“I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak. Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town.”

“I was ill, and everyone could see it but me.”

“I was in for 10 hours and had 40 pints – beating my previous record by 20 minutes.”

“I will respect this liver. After all, it's not mine.”

“I'd have to be superman to do some of the things I'm supposed to have done, I've been at six different places at six different times.”

“I'm OK. Much better than on other occasions. It's true that I've made lots of mistakes but I've never tried to bother anyone. I want to stay alive, preferably in peace, without seeing every one of my mistakes in the papers, and on many occasions, even stories that are lies.”

“I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep.”

“If I'd been born ugly, you'd never have heard of Pelé.”

“If you make up your own mind, you can only blame yourself.”

“It is typical of me to be finishing a long and distinguished drinking career just as the government is planning to open pubs 24 hours a day.”

“Love is about mutual respect, apart from attraction.”

“Maybe 'loner' is too strong a word, but I've always enjoyed being on my own.”

“Me and a mate picked up two darling birds and they took us back to their flat. I went into the bedroom with my bird and she started getting undressed. I was that drunk I was standing there wondering how to get undressed without letting go of the award. I went to sit on the bed, missed it by four feet and ended up lying on the floor. I remember the bird looking down at me, and saying, ‘Some player of the year.’ Then I fell asleep. I woke up still clutching my award and staggered out of the flat. I hadn’t a bloody clue where I was.”

“My one big regret is that I didn’t play on for ten more years.”

“One day they might even say that I was another Ryan Giggs.”

“Pain is temporary, glory lasts forever!”