Of course, the story is a lot broader than that. The 1967/68 season encompassed the 10th anniversary of the 1958 Munich Air Disaster, in which eight first-team players and three club staff members lost their lives, just hours after Matt Busby’s team had qualified for the European Cup (now Champions League) semi-final.
But, remarkably, within seven years, United were English champions again. In 1967, they repeated that feat. Months after the 10th anniversary, they beat Real Madrid to final reach the European Cup final for the very first time.
It was a remarkable resurrection, led principally by Busby and his assistant Jimmy Murphy. On the pitch, Ballon d’Or winners Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton were experienced spearheads. But Best was Busby’s prize firework. And, after making his debut in 1963, he helped an already talented team drench English football with a new kind of technicolour majesty.
Unpredictable, spontaneous and completely consumed by a desire to entertain and wow audiences, by 1967, Best was nothing short of a phenomenon – football’s one-man Beatles. Whether you supported United or not, you wanted to watch George.
