Being a Manchester United fan and choosing the best player who played at Old Trafford is not easy. This is so because we tend to remember only those players who have played during our era. Though we do remember some of the Red Devil legends but they are very few and can be counted on fingers. We can easily associate people like George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton or Eric Cantona with the red shirt Click to continue reading...

This week's Ultimate 11's is top blogger Michael Summervilles' beloved Fulham FC. For those of you who are old to remember Fulham had a great side in the 70's with the likes of George Best, Rodney Marsh & Bobby Moore.

At times Fulham were like the Harlem Globetrotters, and here's some proof.

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This week's featured video is a full length episode of TVS's "The Saturday Match" from April 1983. The main match is a critical match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur from The Goldstone Ground. Brighton were bottom of the First Division and without a home a league win since the previous December, but they were still in the FA Cup, and could have been forgiven for having one eye on their upcoming semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday.

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In 1963, Liverpool signed two-footed wing-wizard winger Peter Thompson, a player who Bill Shankly believed was on the same level as the likes of Tom Finney and George Best. Depsite Thompson giving Liverpool 8 wonderful years of service, the relationship him and Shankly was often quite complicated...
Thompson admits their relationship didn't have the best of starts when he signed for Liverpool on 14th August 1963: "I had a friend whose father was a coach at Preston and he told me to ask for signing-on fee. Click to continue reading...

This is a tough question, and it requires a few generalizations. But here we go: There is a top tier of soccer players. No one's 100% sure on exactly who's in there or where the cutoff is. But it features the likes of Pelé, Diego Maradona, Johann Cruyff, George Best, Ferenc Puskás, Eusébio, Garrincha (pictured), Alfredo [. Click to continue reading...

Por Rocheteau
No trago al Manchester United. Será por ese aire de superioridad de bibliotecario raspa de Ferguson, por esa atroz camiseta de rugby a 13 o quizás sólo porque en el fútbol, como en los bares, siempre hay uno que te cae muy mal en cuanto echas el primer vistazo a la barra. Click to continue reading...

All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

Former Stone Roses frontman and Man Utd fan Ian Brown speaks about the Manchester Billboard War and Cristiano Ronaldo. [ChannelBee]

Jermain Defoe was in jail for five hours yesterday.

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Today in Nyon the Third Qualifying draw took place which should identify the teams most likely to enter the play off round of the competition and therefore have the chance to meet Arsenal. The new format of the Champions league is I argue just a pointless exercise in revenue generation by UEFA.

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July 13, 1977 - Former Manchester United and Northern Ireland great George Best (left) was held scoreless as his visiting Los Angeles Aztecs fell 4-1 to the Rowdies in Tampa Stadium. Entering the match, Best was the NASL assist leader, but was unable to produce either a goal or assist against Tampa Bay. Click to continue reading...

Do you remember where you were when Elvis died? Or John Lennon was shot? When the twin towers were hit, when Kennedy was gunned down or you heard of Diana's death?
Today of course will be another of those days to look back on in the future.
There are two things I think connect Michael Jackson with English football. Click to continue reading...

One of the things that has happened season after season with due diligence is the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo is linked with Spanish giants Real Madrid. But nothing concrete has ever come of it, until now.

The rumours have been confirmed, as Manchester United have officially released a statement saying that they have received an offer to sell Ronaldo to Real for a price of £80 million.

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This post may contain men in pants... 1. George Best's Boutique The fifth Beatle lived up to his nickname. Best dressed like a pop star and was one of the first high-profile players to open his own fashion boutique. He...

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Please give a warm welcome to one of our favourite chappies, Ollie from Who Ate All the Pies. He's dropped in to talk football and fashion, and brought along a nice cheese plate and a DVD of Goal 2 as a welcome gift. Enjoy!

Most of the time, we only see footballers in their work clothes, which as every Kickette knows too well, isn't such a bad thing - who can imagine the emptiness of a world without the Thursday Thigh-Off?

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Please give a warm welcome to one of our favourite chappies, Ollie from Who Ate All the Pies. He's dropped in to talk football and fashion, and brought along a nice cheese plate and a DVD of Goal 2 as a welcome gift. Enjoy!

Most of the time, we only see footballers in their work clothes, which as every Kickette knows too well, isn't such a bad thing - who can imagine the emptiness of a world without the Thursday Thigh-Off?

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A month or so ago I wrote for Soccerlens about why Guus Hiddink was a good shout for the next Manchester United manager.

He is a classy guy, he is a proven success at both domestic and International football, he has cut it in the Premiership and Champions League, he values the importance of bringing through youth, and he's even gone out and got pissed with George Best!

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Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United take on Portsmouth this evening with the comfort of knowing that they still remain tied on points with Liverpool, despite the latter taking control of the head of the table due to their favourable goal difference.
Rafael Benitez's side battled out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Arsenal at Anfield on Tuesday evening, but because they failed to win, they effectively gave United a further advantage. Click to continue reading...

The three musketeers; but can Ronaldo topple Beckham and Best? Mauraone Fellaini unveiled a new haircut during Everton's match against Stoke this weekend, and after the midfielder's form had dipped of late, it seemed to give him a new lease of life, and indeed he played more like the lithe and agile Steven Pienaar who's styling [. Click to continue reading...

1981...  George Best was with the  San Jose Earthquakes playing at Spartan Stadium where the front row seats bring fans close enough to shake hands with the players ('excuse me, can I take the throw-in for you?')   The Earthquakes have been around a while, though not without some struggle. Start Through League Team Name 1974 1982 NASL San Jose Earthquakes 1983 1984 NASL Golden Bay Earthquakes 1985 1988 WSL San Jose Earthquakes 1989 1991 WSL San [. Click to continue reading...

1981...  George Best was with the  San Jose Earthquakes playing at Spartan Stadium where the front row seats bring fans close enough to shake hands with the players ('excuse me, can I take the throw-in for you?') From a present day columnist who was there: He was called for a questionable foul and booked for verbally assaulting [. Click to continue reading...

Very few teams can win without great players in the midfield. MIDFIELDERS have to cover a lot of ground, they have to win and hold the ball, they must complete passes, and they have to be adept at both ends of the field. Sometimes, they'll be asked to take on leadership roles, barking [...] Click to continue reading...

1. Jonathan Maghen et al, Municipal de Fútbol (Christof Keller Editions/Textfield, 2008/ ISBN 0981632505). $80.00 - though available for less on Amazon. This is total self-promotion. Municipal de Fútbol is a unique combination of art, graphic design, and fútbol. Centered on Michael Wells's gorgeous photographs of amateur men's teams playing in leagues across East and South Los Angeles, the book Click to continue reading...

Damn, it's been too long. Our old favourite 'Seven Shades of...' is back once again and for those of you who weren't around prior to October 2007 when we did this last time around, let us explain.
The premise here is to link two disparate souls from football's illustrious past or present over seven spurious steps. Click to continue reading...

It's three years to the day that United's greatest ever player passed away, in my opinion he was the greatest player the world has ever seen and that includes Pele. I refer to the one and only George Best.
Bestie is no longer with us, but the memories will never fade for those like me who were privileged to watch him play in the Red shirt of United. Click to continue reading...

Older viewers (or those with access to YouTube) might have seen Robin van Persie's disallowed goal for Arsenal this weekend - where he nicked it out of Joe Hart's hands as the Man City keeper was trying to kick it upfield - and thought it looked a bit familiar. 101 Great Goals felt it was similar [.. Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you watch the beautiful game in pictures....... George Best as Jesus. (Unprofessional Foul) Jermaine Pennant goes romantic, proposes in a graveyard. (The Spoiler) FC Budyonkor prove money can buy Uzbeki titles - even without Eto'o. (ESPN) They're no Rory Delap's, but six hurlers who'll do. Click to continue reading...

The Telegraph has a link to videos of ten great goals in EPL history. This after the David Bentley goal for Spurs versus Arsenal last evening. If you have not seen the goal, here it is, complete with music by Blur that comprised the soundtrack to FIFA 98. My favourite of this lot is the goal from Dennis Bergkamp. Click to continue reading...

Duncan Edwards and George Best. Entwined in Manchester United's history and mythology. Separated by only a few years, they may as well have been from different worlds. Edwards, the man child, the phenomenal athlete who would run all day for Matt Busby and who stood to conquer the world. Best, a man child in a very different way, the prodigy who did conquer the world. Click to continue reading...

THERE'S a famous anecdote about George Best lying in his hotel bed with Miss World, surrounded by discarded champagne bottles, awash with banknotes from a lucky night at the casino. The bellboy stands in the doorway and with a heavy heart asks: "Where did it all go wrong, George? Click to continue reading...

THERE'S a famous anecdote about George Best lying in his hotel bed with Miss World, surrounded by discarded champagne bottles, awash with banknotes from a lucky night at the casino. The bellboy stands in the doorway and, with a heavy heart, asks: "Where did it all go wrong, George? Click to continue reading...

A life after football? The recent demise of Paul Gascoigne has once again highlighted the pertinence of the cliche "flawed genius". Not the first and certainly not the last footballer to self-destruct, Matt Quinn takes a look at some of the most prominent footballers to fall foul of the influences around their daily lives. Click to continue reading...

Comparisons can be a pain in the backside. My dad says that nobody was ever better than Tom Finney or Puskas, my older brother says George Best and Pele have no equals, I believe Maradona to be the best ever and my son says that Cristiano Ronaldo has more than the lot of them put [...] Click to continue reading...

BIG FIXTURES: Saturday - Tottenham vs. Portsmouth, Fulham vs. Newcastle (relegation clash), Reading vs. Birmingham (relegation clash), Sunday - Manchester United vs. Arsenal, Liverpool vs. Chelsea DEFOE: Portsmouth's Jermain Defoe was ruled ineligible to play in Saturday's Pompey vs. Defoe's former team Tottenham clash. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United 2 – Bolton 0 Cristiano Ronaldo may be masking United's problems, but he's doing a damn good job. His record-breaking brace bumped the Red Devils into sole possession of first – one they are not likely relinquish. He now has something else in common with George Best, besides his number, his good looks [. Click to continue reading...

Not many people know that the boy from Belfast, the late and truly great George Best was at one time a member of MENSA. His sister Barbara has made the revelation in her book Our Georgewhich tells the inside story of living with her football mad brother who spent every spare moment of his time playing with the ball.
Best came to Manchester at the age of just 15, apparently he was so shy that his mum and dad had to take him to buy a pair of long trousers. Click to continue reading...