Manchester’s Irish connection goes a long way back in history and there has been a Irish community in Manchester for almost 200 years. In fact, there used to be two Irish areas in the city. Little Ireland was south of the city centre by the River Medlock, while Irish Town was located north east of the city centre between the River Irk and St. George’s Road. The Irish formed a strong community as the years went by and the links between Manchester and Ireland are quite unique. On this background, it should come as no surprise that Manchester United eventually became the most popular soccer club by far in the whole of Ireland, regardless of politics and religion.

Many of Manchester United’s finest players up through the years have been Irish born. Still, the greatest of them all turned out to be a small protestant boy from Ulster named George Best who arrived in Manchester in July 1961. In his early days as a working class boy in Belfast, George Best was destined for big time soccer. He had all the playing attributes that most of his peers begrudged. He started his professional career in 1963 at the age of 17 with Manchester United and made an immediate impact on the game. He made his first appearance at home against West Bromwich Albion who were then second in the first division. He began as a winger, but developed into a player who could operate up frontline or in midfield. He would score goals beyond the mental imagery of any player. Best had a winning command of the ball and despite running back to Northern Ireland two days after making it in England, a destiny for both fame and bad luck. At the young age of 17, Best was a full member in a team of the greatest players ever seen on a football pitch, among them Bobby Charlton and Denis Law.

George Best was brilliant in the 1968 European Cup Final when Manchester United won the ultimate trophy in soccer. As well as scoring against Benfica, he also finished top goal scorer in the league and was voted English and European player of the year. By then his career was at its peak and he was expected to follow in the footsteps of great players like Stanley Matthews. But Matthews never stayed out drinking until the early hours like Best did. Eventually he was sacked by none other than Tommy Docherty and left Old Trafford at the age of 27 knowing he had played with the best players he ever would. He played 361 games for Manchester United and scored 167 goals during his time there. He also starred for Northern Ireland scoring nine goals on 37 occasions.