On this day in 1946, George Best, the son of Dickie and Anne Best was born in a Belfast Hospital. The pointless argument will forever continue as to who is the greatest footballer of all time and for me, George Best is up there with Pele, Maradona, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Di Stefano, Cryuff and others in elite footballing company.

As stated though, it is pointless to nominate the “greatest” because it is not possible to compare players from different eras. As English Premier League pundit Andy Gray once suggested, could (Lionel Messi) “do it on a cold winter’s night at Stoke”. How would Pele have coped on the mud bath at The Baseball Ground home of Derby County and without modern training and sports science, would Cristiano Ronaldo be the almost perfect physically structured footballer that he is? We wonder too, would Maradona have been as effective and had such masterly ball control and touch had he worn 1930’s vintage clodhopper football boots and had to play with a heavy, laced waterlogged leather ball?

Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have won numerous Ballon d’Ors, the ultimate individual award for a footballer but they have also been fortunate to have played in club teams, consistently bristling with very talented players. As their success at international level has not matched that of when playing with their club teams, could it be argued that they owe much to their talented clubmates as it is certainly easier for an individual to impress when surrounded by class players? Likewise Alfredo Di Stefano at Real Madrid had an outstanding supporting cast, including the Hungarian “Galloping Major”, Ferenc Puskas.  We need to concede that there is no level playing field to rank the numerous great footballers from any period of football history and therefore there will never be consensus.

Right ! As I have now established unequivocally that the greatest footballer of all time cannot singularly be determined, who is the player that I would most want to watch if I was down to the last 90 minutes of my life – my last two halves of football on this earth? My choice would be today’s birthday boy, George Best. This opinion is not based solely on the skill factor, although George and all the others mentioned earlier had it in abundance, but measured by the player’s excitement factor, poise, style, audacity and the ability to do the unexpected, in short, entertainment value. George Best was an entertainer, a showman and if you paid your admission and George was on the park, entertainment was guaranteed.

George’s career took off in 1964 almost simultaneously with that of The Beatles. If you were watching Manchester United at Old Trafford at that time, as soon as Best received the ball, instantly thousands of girls erupted into shrill screams and screeches. In the mid nineteen sixties, this type of behavior was usually reserved for four mop top musicians from down the road at Liverpool and a number of blossoming copycat pop bands. Before the soprano voiced crowd could faint, the slight, dark haired leprechaun in football boots had taken off, often through the Manchester mud, on a mazy run. The Irishman would glide past opponents, skipping over ruthless challenges with the grace and balance of a footballing Rudolf Nureyev. On many an occasion, Best would beat a defender and go through the exercise again, teasing his opponent for having the temerity to try and tackle him.                                               

Though a modest and shy man off the field, on the football pitch George Best was forever the showman. He once beat an opponent by gently playing a one – two off the back of another defender lying injured on the ground. With time running out in an FA Cup tie for Manchester United against Burnley, George’s boot came off but he continued with one boot, laying on a pass for an equalizer with his stockinged foot and then supplying the pass for the winning goal. All this while playing without his left boot !

English first division football in the nineteen sixties was a tough gig. Hatchet men such as Chelsea’s Ron (“Chopper”) Harris and Leeds United’s Norman (“Norman Bites Yer Legs”) Hunter took no prisoners and were given more than enough leeway by referees. Best never shirked any challenges and took delight in showing his mastery of the toughest defenders of that time. Though not playing as an out and out striker, the Irishman proved to be not only a great goal scorer (he was Manchester United’s leading marksman for five consecutive seasons) but indeed a scorer of great goals.

George Best saved much of his audacity for goalkeepers. With a flick of George’s slim hips, he would have goalkeepers, clutching at thin air as he shimmied and strolled around them. Shooting for goal would have been the safer, more orthodox option but orthodoxy was not part of the George Best modus operandi. Two of England’s greatest custodians, Peter Bonetti of Chelsea and Gordon Banks of Stoke City were just two to succumb to the Best trickery. Never a dull moment with George.

George’s boldness and torment of goalkeepers peaked in May 1971 playing for Northern Ireland against England at Windsor Park, Belfast. Again, the goalkeeper was Gordon Banks whose kicking technique was to lob the ball with his hand into the air prior to clearing it downfield. Alert to Banks’ method, as the England goalkeeper released the ball, Best nipped in and flicked it goalward away from bemused Banks and then nodded the ball into the net. The “goal” was disallowed most likely because the referee just did not see the incident and to this day Irish supporters claim that they and George Best were robbed of a goal created by the supreme invention of their footballing idol.        

It is unfortunate that so many of George Best’s goals were not filmed but in 1969 when Manchester United beat Northampton 8-2 in an FA Cup tie, the TV cameras captured all ten goals, with George Best scoring six himself. George completed his double hat trick by dummying around Northampton goalkeeper Kim Book and walking the ball into the empty net as the bemused Book sat in the muddy goalmouth.The pinnacle of George Best’s football career came just six days after his 22^nd birthday in the 1968 European Cup Final at Wembley Stadium against Portugal’s Benfica. Blessed with utmost self confidence and seemingly devoid of nerves, with scores level at 1-1 in extra time, a long clearance by Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney was flicked on to Best thirty five metres from the Benfica goal. Instinctively George slotted the ball through a defender’s legs and with only goalkeeper Henrique to beat in the most prestigious match in world club football, rather than drive the ball into the goal, as calm as you like, Best opted to skip around the stranded goalkeeper and stroke the ball into the net. This goal sunk Benfica and United scored twice more to secure their first European title.                              

One of George Best’s most memorable goals was scored in January 1971 against one of the best British goalkeepers and international team mate of Best, Pat Jennings. Playing against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, Jennings punched a clearance in the direction of Best who was lurking just inside the crowded penalty area. The Manchester United wizard cushioned the ball on his chest and in one motion lobbed it gently over four Spurs defenders, including Jennings into the net. Goals don’t come much better or more audacious than that.

George Best was the complete footballer. He had incredible footballing ability and above all else, cheek. George was not just the player, he was the performer. Much loved throughout the football world, the handsome, quiet Irishman charmed fans as readily as he charmed female company. Ultimately, fame and alcohol brought Best’s illustrious football career and later his life, to a premature end but I will always be grateful that I was able to witness the career of a magical footballer. Is he the best player of all time? Who knows? But as former Manchester City manager Malcom Allison once said “George Best was special – all the others were just footballers.”

Happy birthday Georgie.

© David Jack

22nd May 2020

David Ronald Jack, my father, was born on 6^th June 1925 in Bolton, Lancashire. David was the only son of David Bone Nightingale (“DBN”) Jack and Kathleen Jack (nee McCormack). David was a sports writer, author and TV Presenter and he and his wife Rose had seven children. David wrote primarily on Association Football for 40 years, split almost 50/50 between working in England and in Australia. David attended and reported on a number of FIFA World Cup tournaments including milestone achievements of Australia’s first ever World Cup Final’s appearance in 1974 as well as being present at Wembley Stadium on the occasion of England’s World Cup victory in July 1966.

The Jack name had been synonymous with British football for generations. In 1885, David Jack’s grandfather, Bob Jack was amongst the earliest Scottish professional footballers to infiltrate the predominantly amateur game, south of the Scottish border. Bob Jack played professionally for Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End and managed Plymouth Argyle for 29 years. Bob Jack had three sons, Rollo, Donald and David (hereafter referred to as DBN Jack), all professional footballers, although DBN Jack was the stand out.

The Jack family excelled in a number of sports, including tennis and Rollo Jack became a high ranking lawn bowls player. DBN Jack scored the first goal in an F.A. Cup Final at Wembley in 1923 and was twice transferred for what were then world record transfer fees. DBN Jack captained England on a number of occasions and his signing by the legendary Arsenal manager, Herbert Chapman in 1928, was the catalyst for almost a decade of continued success for “The Gunners”. DBN Jack scored the only (winning) goal for Bolton Wanderers in the 1926 F.A. Cup Final, just three years after scoring the very first cup final goal at the Empire Stadium, Wembley in 1923.

Having a father who captained England and two professional footballing uncles, it was inevitable that young David might himself look to earn a living playing football. David was a capable centre half and his father considered that David might make a decent third division centre half but in those days, footballers’ wages were capped and David’s father, an English international, was only earning £8 weekly. Young David was encouraged by his father to get a “proper job” so he joined Barclays Bank. Admittedly, banking wages were no better than those of a third division footballing centre half, however behind the banking counter there was less chance of David sustaining a broken leg or knee cruciate ligament injury, so the prospect of long term employment was more secure.

Although working as a London bank teller, David’s desire to earn a living from football was strong and in 1947 he applied for and was successful in securing a cadetship in journalism with the Sunday Empire News. Initially restricted to court reporting and mundane stories of garbage bin and cat theft, David’s break in sports journalism came in November 1947. Not yet considered for matches featuring high flying clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United or Wolverhampton Wanderers, David’s first match report was an intriguing first round F.A. Cup match between non league club Vauxhall Motors and third division Walsall, with the car assembly specialists losing a close encounter 2-1.

In 1947, English football was a seasonal sport and when not engaged in football writing, David covered weightlifting, wrestling, tennis, cricket, speedway and whatever sport entertained post war Great Britain. With the advent of European football championships and England’s belated inclusion in World Cup football, David’s job took him further afield internationally.

Leaving court reporting behind him and gaining confidence as a writer, David ghosted footballer Len Shackleton’s book “The Clown Prince of Soccer” (Nicholas Kaye Limited 1955). The subject Len Shackleton, was possibly the original “maverick” footballer. A controversial footballer, Shackleton only played a handful of times for England but was famous for his on field party tricks. The book sold well and to this day is still best known for Chapter 9, “The Average Director’s Knowledge of Football” – The chapter was blank.    

Nearly ten years into his journalism career, David was a reputable and respected football writer. In 1956 however, his reputation risked coming unstuck, the result of a damning but what he considered, honest report of a First Division match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City. Both clubs were unhappy with the report and consequently banned David from press box and directors box facilities at their respective grounds.

In 1957, David ghosted another book, “My Story” (Souvenir Press 1957) Manchester United manager Matt Busby’s autobiography. Although first published in 1957, David revised the book 12 months later, adding another chapter, after the plane crash at Munich the following year, in which eight Manchester United players and eight journalists were killed. Ironically and sadly, the review (below) of “My Story” had been written by the esteemed Manchester based journalist, Donny Davies (“An Old International”) who died in the Munich crash.

It was just good fortune that David was not on board that fateful BEA aeroplane that crashed in Germany on 6^th February 1958. David had travelled to Dublin in September 1957 to cover the European Cup preliminary round match between Manchester United against Shamrock Rovers and David had expected to travel to Belgrade to cover a later clash with Red Star Belgrade. David’s editor however, asked him to travel to Stockholm instead, to cover the 1958 FIFA World Cup draw, scheduled for 11^th February 1958. The eight journalists who died on board the flight at Munich, returning to England from Belgrade, were all grouped together at the rear of the plane. There was every chance that at the age of four, I could have lost my father, had he travelled to Belgrade.

This was a very difficult time in David’s life. Those journalists who perished at Munich were his friends as well as being colleagues. Two weeks earlier, David’s mother Kathleen died followed, as did his father, later in 1958. After the Munich crash, David was posted permanently by his newspaper to the North West of England.

David continued to write sports related biographies, including books on footballers Tom Finney and Jimmy McIlroy as well as Bill Ferguson the official scorer of the Australian cricket team for many years who had travelled with all the famous Australian cricketers, Bradman included, in the first half of the 20^th century. The foreword to the book was written by Australian Prime Minister R G Menzies.

Seeking a new challenge, in 1965, Dad decided that he and my mother would buy a newsagency at Thornton Cleveleys near Blackpool. David continued to write on football and in 1965 was elected Chairman of the Football Writers’ Association (“FWA”) – the first freelance writer to be appointed to that position. As sitting chairman of the FWA, David had the honour of presenting Bobby Charlton with his Footballer of the Year award in 1966, the year of the nation’s biggest ever footballing triumph, the winning of the FIFA World Cup.

By 1966, tired of getting up daily at 5.00 a.m. to take delivery of the morning newspapers and filling in for absentee paper boys in the snow and rain, David decided that the family would emigrate to Australia. In February 1967, David and his family embarked from Southampton on the Chandris Lines ship “S.S. Australis”. The total cost under the assisted passage scheme was just £20 and motivation for this significant life change, was the promise of sunshine and the suggestion that the warmer climate might assist my brother Paul’s asthma.        

Setting off from England in 1967, David had no employment guarantee but still nine mouths to feed. Upon arriving in Australia, David had to prove his worth as a journalist, which he achieved by writing a series of articles for Pix magazine. One in particular on Australian jockey Mel Schumacher, caught the notice of the industry and as the Sydney Sun did not have a full time soccer writer. David was offered a permanent job in April 1967. Recognizing that a football environment did exist down under, David soon became an important part of Australian football. Having been used to receiving as much column space as was needed in the United Kingdom, David was often frustrated by the lack of paragraphs allocated here, to what was a minor sport at the professional level. His pleas to his sports’ editors often fell on deaf ears but he continued to try to grow the visibility of Australian football encouraging his employer to support football at the grass roots level.

David was convinced that the way forward for Australian soccer was to attract the non committed fans of the rugby codes and Aussie Rules and to entice Australians and the latent British football fans down under, to watch local soccer. David wanted to have club names changed to clearly identify with a local district rather than having a connection to a European nation. David felt that this was the only way to appeal to the greater population. Though this would be frowned upon today, David’s forceful writings on this subject were not motivated by racial bias but a burning desire to make the whole nation embrace soccer in this country. David had a very good association with the clubs, officials and supporters of those clubs sponsored and supported by post World War II immigrants and he wanted to retain the support of these groups but supplement them with disenchanted rugby and Aussie Rules followers.

David was never afraid to speak his mind – his experience in the Wolves v Birmingham match attests to this and soon after starting with The Sun newspaper, he had a falling out with his long time friend, Matt Busby. Manchester United played a Sydney XI here in June 1967 and Sydney’s Ron Giles suffered a broken jaw after an off the ball scuffle with United’s livewire, striker Denis Law. David reported Law’s “involvement” in the incident, upsetting Busby the respected Scottish born manager, who would have preferred the incident to be hushed up. Busby, a man of integrity, apologized to David, soon after.      

Australia’s qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup brought widespread optimism for the future of the game and the media started to provide more coverage of Australian soccer. As a result, David was asked to host a soccer segment on Sunday mornings on Channel 7’s Sports Action which later became Sports World, chaired by former rugby league and union international, Rex Mossop. The weekly appearance was far from lucrative for David, although I do remember the family being well stocked with “delicious hams from Meapro” and numerous bottles of Patra orange juice.

David travelled to the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany and by this time, he was happy with his lot in Australia and never contemplated returning to the UK. David’s trademark pipe was familiar with the local football fraternity and David continued to be outspoken about the local game and he received more than one threat of legal action from Sir Arthur George, then chairman of the Australian Soccer Federation. David founded the Australian Soccer Weekly and Soccer Monthly News and sought interest from local publishers for writing a number of books, including the Australian coach, Rale Rasic’s life story. Australian football unfortunately had still not captivated the population sufficiently to attract publishers to Australian football or its’ characters. David did collaborate with Andrew Clues, a UK ex patriot coach in the writing of “Soccer for Coaches & Players” (Australia & New Zealand Book Company 1977). Clues had high hopes for the book, however to this day it remains a “collector’s item”

Until his dying day, David strongly advocated that Australia should not play football in summer and the matter was once debated on SBS television. The former SBS presenter Les Murray and one time Australian coach Eddie Thompson argued in favour of playing in summer. Now, however, whenever watching a local A League game and the heat results in players taking mid half drinks breaks, I think of Dad and say to myself “You were right”!

David lived most of his Australian life on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, notably Fairlight and Harbord (Freshwater) spending many hours on Freshwater Beach, caked in Coppertone sun tan lotion, listening to his adopted country playing cricket against the country of his birth. David continued to play tennis regularly on the court at his and mum’s Harbord home. David often promised an appearance from Ivan Lendl, apparently a friend of the then Sun photographer, Anton Cermak. Lendl never fronted so we had to make do with a less than talented tennis player in Socceroos coach, Rudi Gutendorf.  

David married Rose Costelloe in December 1950. Rose came from the seaside town of Ballybunion, County Kerry and she and David had seven children. From their wedding day onwards, Rose understood very well the ramifications of marrying into a committed professional sporting family. The wedding ceremony had to be at 11.00 a.m. as her father in law, DBN Jack was then manager of Middlesborough F.C. who were kicking off at White Hart Lane at  3.00 p.m. against Tottenham Hotspurs. The wedding was specifically arranged for that day, to coincide with Middlesborough playing in London.

A competent piano player and armed services cornet player, David loved his music, especially Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr. and Peggy Lee. He had played cornet in the RAF band at Aldershot during World War II and family photo albums indicate that cornet playing appeared to be David’s pre eminent contribution to the war effort. David however always insisted that he “kept the Sunderland (UK) skies clear of The Hun”. David had a very dry sense of humour, garnered from the British comedy greats of the 1950’s and 1960’s – Spike Milligan, The Goon Show, Tony Hancock, Sid James and of course the silliness of Benny Hill.

David was always calm and thoughtful and loved all of his children equally and they loved him similarly in return. David Jack retired from sports journalism in 1988 and he and Rose moved down to Sussex Inlet on the NSW south coast. David continued to write for the local Probus club. He even started to march on ANZAC Day, perhaps reminiscing about his Royal Air Force days when he could produce some beautiful sounds on his RAF cornet.  

David Ronald Jack died on 1^st June 1990 at the age of 64.

Rest in peace Dad. 

P.S. All of David’s published books are still selling consistently.

David Jack © 2023

To say that the Gods have not looked kindly upon Australian football over the last 12 months, would be a gross understatement. The Olyroos failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games and the Socceroos early underwhelming World Cup qualifying performances precipitated the resignation of coach Graham Arnold. Currently, direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup is still in the balance.

The Matildas remain without a permanent coach but continue to attract good crowds for local fixtures. Injuries however to skipper Sam Kerr and now Mary Fowler have dimmed the glow of Australia’s favourite female sporting team. At club level, the Hyundai Ute men’s A – League has staggered from one crisis to another. These included the speedy exit of former CEO Danny Townsend in October 2023, the Macarthur Bulls yellow card betting scandal and the grand final location fiasco. Last week, Football Australia’s Chief Executive, James Johnson announced his resignation and Subway Australia have declared that in September this year, they will not be renewing their substantial sponsorship and naming rights of Australian football’s junior and senior national teams. To cap off the financial woes of Football Australia, the ruling body will shortly report an $8.5m loss for the 2023-24 financial year, a loss exacerbated by a provision of $4.1m for the unlikely recovery of a loan to the Australian Professional Leagues (“APL”). 

The Australian Professional Leagues owns and administers the men’s and women’s premier leagues and is on a road to nowhere. Financially embarrassed, despite the great “unbundling” of 2019-2020 that then APL chairman Paul Lederer described as “an historic moment for the future of football in Australia”, the Isuzu Ute A – League is teetering on the edge of obscurity.

When interest and excitement should be growing during the final weeks of the competition, we see crowds petering out – eighteen hundred spectators at a 55,000 capacity Suncorp Stadium to watch Brisbane Roar play Adelaide United and not many more at AAMI Park for Melbourne City v Adelaide United, both top six placed clubs. The inclusion and success of Auckland FC this year may have boosted overall attendances marginally, but whether New Zealand clubs Auckland and Wellington are advantageous long term for the Australian men’s premier competition, is debatable.    

Meanwhile, the possible white knight for club football in the form of a National Second Division, now to be known as The Australian Championship, has been diluted and delayed. This competition, described by the departing James Johnson as “a bold leap forward for the sport” will now commence in October this year. Instead however of being an exciting coming together of ethnic based “foundation clubs” playing a full season of home and away matches, it appears to be nothing more than a sixteen team round robin competition extending just eight weeks, with other NPL clubs making up the numbers.

Inviting eight foundation clubs to this competition is just a means to appease the growing discontent of those clubs with a rich football history and to paper over the divide that has seen these clubs locked out of the premier football competition in Australia for over 20 years. The proposed Australian Championship is not a satisfactory substitute for a national second tier of club football. What happens next? Another eight week “championship” in 2026?

Where is the commitment for a full season, national second division (in winter would be nice) with promotion and relegation? A competition where clubs from all over the country can strive one day to replicate the exploits of Welsh club Wrexham. The Welsh side have just gained promotion in the United Kingdom for the third successive season and are now knocking on the door of English Premier League football. Why can’t South Melbourne, APIA Leichhardt, Adelaide City or Marconi have a similar dream to that of Wrexham? Why can’t the elation that the Wrexham fans experienced, be mirrored in Australian club football?

It all seems too hard for Football Australia who seem hell bent on keeping the status quo of the A-League and W-League franchises.  I still believe that Association Football (and we can call it “soccer”) can become the number one football variant in the country but a major rethink of club football is imperative. As we all know, association football is the largest participation sport in the country but 95% of participants, myself included, do not attend professional or semi professional club football.

Club football evolved in Great Britain and elsewhere with the growth of clubs from specific geographical areas and communities that represented the populace from those areas and communities. The 2024 Isuzu A League Grand Final, played at Industree Group Stadium Gosford perfectly showed that the future of Australian club football lies not with centralised clubs playing in large sparsely populated stadia, Allianz Stadium Sydney and Suncorp Stadium Brisbane come to mind, but in smaller local grounds centred in the heartland of the clubs’ supporter base. 

Admittedly, that match was a grand final, but the Mariners “rags to riches” success captivated the district. This was the locals’ own team performing above expectation in their club’s backyard. Club supporters don’t want to have to battle city traffic or parking issues to watch their local team. The Manly Sea Eagles rugby league fans are a good example. These supporters will rarely travel outside of what they call “God’s country” to support their team. However, give the Manly fans “Brookie Oval”, now 4 Pines Park on a Friday or Saturday night and the ground will be packed.  

In Australia, the top tier of club football, Isuzu A – League and Ninja W – League, clubs presently rely on diminishing television rights, financial investment from (some) dubious corporate entities and allocations from grassroots football registration fees, to finance their operations. Using many guises, but also to prop up the ailing competitions, Football Australia is now seeking money (“investment”) from any willing level of government under their “Securing Our Football Future” proposal. Maybe it is time to stop seeking government funding and encourage clubs by providing a viable, national second and third level of football, all linked through a pyramid structure, where both the first and last days of competition are meaningful. Encourage clubs to be self sufficient and invest in young talent and not 38 year old imports. Inspire clubs to invest in their own home grounds and not squander rent on unnecessarily large stadia.

Strong professional competitions and successful national teams will promote good health for the future of Australian football. Our brand of football has always been the largest participation sport in the country and the juggernaut impact of the Matildas has seen female registrations increase by 20% since the 2023 Women’s World Cup. With growing concern of the effect of head injuries on players in AFL and the rugby codes, the preference for new youngsters opting for soccer as their sport, will continue to grow.

These new Matildas and Socceroos aspirants must be aligned with a district based club – a swathe of privately run, money spinning football academies is not the answer. If the multitude of grassroots players around the country, can convince their parents, partners and siblings to support their local district or community team, a team that could do a “Wrexham” and perform at the pinnacle of club football in Australia, the fan base would be staggering.

Frank Lowy, chairman of the former Football Federation of Australia, wanted Australian club football to become the predominant football version in Australia. But, as Lowy’s grandiose plans for the A – League (including playing in large inappropriate venues) have faded, it is time for yet another reset of Australian club football.

Australian club football has to return to making district and community based clubs, the focus of Australian club football. Clubs must have their own grounds, which can be modest initially but grounds that become synonymous with the club rather than largely empty, soulless stadia. Most importantly, the district and community based clubs must have the ability to play in the highest level of Australian club football. Promotion and relegation from the lowest NPL divisions to the premier level of club football, the A – League, W – League or whatever they may be called, is non negotiable.

No longer would there be meaningless top tier women and men’s football from mid season onwards, played in front of empty grandstands. There would be true competition at the top and bottom of all divisions of club football and this would provide a clear pathway for all local players to perform at the peak level of Australian club football.

David Jack  © 2025