Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Rest In Peace, George

Quite special earlier this evening watching Sky Sports showing the ceremonies at Old Trafford. United are, as I write, leading West Brom 2- 0, and, fittingly, number 7, Ronaldo, scored the first goal.

I'm too young to remember him playing (honestly); but at work today, I was reminded that George Best played three games for the now-defunct club Cork Celtic in the League of Ireland. Read more here: one thing that this article does not mention is the strong rumour that George was offered strong financial incentive to play for the club.

I think it's quite important to understand the context of the previous week's events: the death of George Best invites us all to directly compare the game of football in 1968 with 2005; there are the obvious issues of television coverage, players' wages, money, and the related changing economics of the sport; but to the hardcore United fans (and I admit I am not one of these), it also makes the Glazer takeover slightly harder to bear.

Frankly, the boardroom events this summer mark an important watershed in the club's history; the club has been taken over by a family who seem to have no real interest in the game for the game's sake, or for the fans' sake; one good thing about the ceremony this evening was that the Glazer family were nowhere to be seen. If any of them had turned up on the pitch with the 1968 legends, they would have been booed off by the fans.

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