George Best – 325 Days in Edinburgh
George Best became a global football superstar in his days with Manchester Utd between 1963 and 1974.
His drinking and social life took him away from football and he ended up playing in the USA before returning to England to play for Fulham in 1976-77.
After a further spell in the USA he made a surprise return to the UK in 1979 to play for Hibernian.
Hibs were bottom of the Scottish Premier League and crowds were small.
Tom Hart the Chairman of Hibs was tipped off to Best’s availability and agreed a deal reputedly of £2,500 per game.
In November 1979 George Best made his debut for Hibs.
This is a look at the 22 games he played for Hibs in 325 days.
1- 24/11/79 St.Mirren 2 Hibernian 1 – Love Street , Paisley – 13,798
George made his debut for Hibs scoring in a 2-1 defeat by St Mirren
2 – 1/12/79 Hibernian 2 Partick Thistle 1 – Easter Road , Edinburgh – 20,622
George made his home debut in a 2-1 home win over Partick Thistle with the crowd quadruple the normal size.
3 – 22/12/79 Hibernian 2 Rangers 1 – Easter Road , Edinburgh – 19,740
Hibs beat Rangers 2-1 coming from behind at half time to a Tommy McLean goal, Tony Higgins equalised before young Colin Campbell scored a late winner in front of 18.740
4- 5/1/80 Kilmarnock 3 Hibermian 1 – Rugby Park , Kilmarnock – 6,092
George played in a 3-1 defeat to Kilmarnock
5- 21/1/80 Hibernian 1 Celtic 1 , Easter Road , Edinburgh -21,932
George scored in a 1-1 draw against Celtic in front of a massive crowd
6- 26/1/80 Meadowbank 0 Hibernian 1 , Tynecastle Park , Edinburgh – 8,415
George played in Scottish Cup tie against Meadowbank played at Tynecastle
Hibs were drawn to play Ayr Utd in the Scottish Cup at Easter Road on Sunday 17th February 1980.
George was staying at the North British Hotel on the Saturday evening prior to the match. He met Blondie singer Debbie Harry and members of the French Rugby team who had lost to Scotland at Murrayfield and reputedly went with them to all night party, missing the game
George was suspended by Hibs for a week , while a large crowd of around 15,000 were left disappointed by the superstar’s non appearance in the team’s 2-0 win.
7 1/3/80 Rangers 1 Hibernian 0 Ibrox Stadium , Glasgow – 26,092
George returned for the trip to Ibrox where Hibs lost 1-0.
8 – 8/3/80 Berwick v Hibs , Sheilfield Park, Berwick – 7,228
George Best only played the first half in front of a Scottish Cup tie at Berwick, as he paid for a taxi to the game having missed the team bus , on a dark , dismal, wet day.
9 – 15/3/80 Dundee 3 Hibernian 0 , Dens Park , Dundee -8,065
George Best was voted man of the match despite Hibs losing 3-0 and he had a goal disallowed for offside.
10 – 25/3/80 Hibernian 2 Dundee 0, Easter Road , Edinburgh – 5,018
George scored a famous individual goal in 2-0 win, 5,018 on a Tuesday night
11 – 29/3/80 Celtic 4 v Hibernian 0 , Celtic Park , Glasgow -20.926
George Best only appearance for Hibs at Celtic Park
12- 2/4/80 Hibernian 0 Dundee Utd 2 , Easter Road , Edinburgh -5,919
Hibs lost 2-0 at home to Dundee Utd
13 5/4/80 – St Mirren 2 Hibernian 0, Love Street , Paisley 5/4/80 – 8.156
Hibs Lost 2-0 in George Best’s second visit to Love Street
14 12/4/80 Celtic 5 Hibernian 0 , Hampden Park , Glasgow -33,445
Celtic won 5-0 in Scottish Cup Semi Final – 33,445
George Best’s only Hampden appearance for Hibs
15 – 16/4/80 Aberdeen 1 Hibernian 1, Pittodrie Stadium , Aberdeen -15,127
Hibs drew 1-1 at Aberdeen
16 – 19/4/80 Hibernian 0 Dundee Utd 2 , Easter Road , Edinburgh 4,921
Hibs lost 2-0 at home to Dundee Utd for the second time in a month.
HIBERNIAN WERE RELEGATED TO FIRST DIVISION
17 – 9/9/80 Dundee 1 Hibernian 2 , Dens Park , Dundee – 5.304
George returned to play for Hibs and set-up Gordon Rae’s winner
18 – 20/9/80 Hamilton Accies 1 Hibernian 1, Douglas Park , Hamilton 5,197
I saw George Best play for Hibs at Douglas Park in a 1-1 draw
19- 24/9/80 Hibernian 2 Clyde 1 , Easter Road , Edinburgh -3,773
League cup Third Round Second Leg Hibs won 2-1 4-1 on agg
20 – 4/10/80 – Dunfermline 0 Hibernian 2 , East End Park, Dunfermline 5,607
Hibs won 2-0 at East End Park
21- 8/10/80 Ayr 2 Hibernian 2 , Somerset Park, Ayr 4.717
League Cup QF First Leg 2-2, Ayr beat Hobs 2-0 at Easter Road after extra time to win 4-2 on aggregate.
22- 11/10/80 Hibernian 2 Falkirk 0 , Easter Road , Edinburgh 6,947
Hibs won 2-0 in George Best last game in a Hibernian shirt in an official game.
Football is Academical 