George Best

About George Best

George Best turned professional at Manchester United in 1962, launching what would become a 21-year journey through 4 countries for the Northern Irish right winger. Now retired, Best left the game having last played for AFC Bournemouth in 1983.

Club by club, the full journey looks like this: Manchester United (1962–1974), then Stockport County (1974–1975), then Cork Celtic (1975–1976), then Los Angeles Aztecs (1976–1976), then Fulham (1976–1977), then Los Angeles Aztecs (1977–1978), then Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1978–1979), then Hibernian (1979–1980), then San Jose Earthquakes (1980–1981), then AFC Bournemouth (1982–1983). That sequence is exactly what appears in the career grid when this player comes up in the game.

No club shaped this career more than Manchester United, where George spent about 12 years — the longest single stop on the timeline. A suitcase was packed in 1975: destination Cork Celtic, Ireland. In total the journey passed through England, Ireland, United States, Scotland — the kind of multi-league trajectory that makes Daily Play riddles genuinely tricky.

The ledger shows 616 recorded appearances, 204 goals.

A couple of details make this career stand out. During the 1976-77 English season he was registered with Fulham while also turning out for the Los Angeles Aztecs, commuting between the two because the NASL played its season in the North American summer. He received a prison sentence in 1984 for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer, one of several legal troubles tied to the alcoholism that shadowed his later life. His 2002 liver transplant, funded by the UK's National Health Service, became a national talking point given his long public struggle with drinking.

Next time a grid ends at AFC Bournemouth, you will have an edge. Each of the 9 clubs listed below doubles as a clue, and knowing how George's chapters connect separates a first-attempt guess from a near miss.