{"id":202457,"date":"2025-11-27T05:36:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T05:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/202457\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T05:36:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T05:36:22","slug":"norman-whiteside-tells-man-utd-fans-what-george-best-was-like-off-camera-and-spotted-same-thing-as-sir-alex-ferguson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/202457\/","title":{"rendered":"Norman Whiteside tells Man Utd fans what George Best was like off camera and spotted same thing as Sir Alex Ferguson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester United legend Norman Whiteside has now echoed the sentiments of Sir Alex Ferguson over one key detail about Red Devils icon George Best.<\/p>\n

The Red Devils on Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of George Best\u2019s death, with the Manchester United legend<\/a> only 59 years old at the time of his passing.<\/p>\n

Man Utd icon Sir Alex Ferguson perfectly captures the ethos of believing in youngsters \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udc4f <\/p>\n

\n

Giving young people an opportunity is a fantastic thing and they very seldom let you down. These lads never let me down when they put that jersey on.<\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson speaking at the opening of Salford City\u2019s Peninsula Stadium in 2017<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of United\u2019s famed \u2013 and beloved \u2013 No 7s<\/a>, Best is widely considered one of the best players in the Premier League club\u2019s history and of all time in football.<\/p>\n

Best\u2019s legendary exploits at United<\/a> have seen him forever enshrined outside of Old Trafford<\/a> in the Holy Trinity statue alongside Sir Bobby Charlton<\/a> and Denis Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former United<\/a> winger captured two First Division titles and a European Cup with the Red Devils and lifted the prized Ballon d\u2019Or award during his prolific run at the club.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Senne Lammens finally reacts after hearing what Sir Alex Ferguson said about his start to life at Man Utd<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"FormerPhoto by Albert Cooper\/Mirror Syndication International\/Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesNorman Whiteside explains what he realised about Man Utd icon George Best after meeting him in person<\/strong><\/p>\n

George Best was hospitalised in 2005 and the former Manchester United star died after he suffered multiple organ failure at London\u2019s Cromwell Hospital.<\/p>\n

The football world mourned the passing of Best two decades ago and the 1968 Ballon d\u2019Or winner\u2019s anniversary sparked tributes to pour in for him again.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Manchester United\u2019s official website<\/a>, Norman Whiteside recalled his encounters with the former Northern Ireland international when Best was alive.<\/p>\n

Which Manchester United academy midfielder are you most excited about? <\/p>\n

The 60-year-old ex-United player admitted that something that stood out about Best outside of the public limelight was that he was \u201cwell-read\u201d and \u201ccould even be shy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky to meet George on many occasions and he was a lovely guy, off the park,\u201d Whiteside said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you hadn\u2019t met him, he was a well-read guy and down to the fact that he could even be shy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t think that, but to go back to the football, he was the best there was and appropriately named.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: John O\u2019Shea says Ruben Amorim overlooked Man Utd option who could \u2018create something\u2019 out of nothing against Everton<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson felt the same way about Norman Whiteside\u2019s assessment of George Best when he met the Man Utd icon himself<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson<\/a>, who is regarded as one of the best managers of all time, was a huge admirer of Best and crossed paths with the United icon when he was alive.<\/p>\n

The 83-year-old iconic Scotsman, much like United legend Whiteside, realised the extent of Best\u2019s \u201cshyness\u201d when he approached him at a bar in Japan.<\/p>\n

Who is Manchester United\u2019s best manager since Sir Alex Ferguson? <\/p>\n

\u201cIn November 2005, we lost George Best,\u201d he said in his 2013 autobiography \u2018Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography,\u2019 as per the Belfast Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very nice bloke, George, a very gentle lad, a bit nervous somehow.<\/p>\n

\u201cNervous to talk to you. He had an insecurity about him that worried you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember sitting in a bar in Japan with him once \u2013 he was with his girlfriend \u2013 and he could hardly talk. He seemed gripped by shyness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best made 470 appearances for the United first-team<\/a> squad and the former Red Devils youth academy<\/a> product scored 179 times and registered 61 assists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United legend Norman Whiteside has now echoed the sentiments of Sir Alex Ferguson over one key detail…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[18,111511,19,17,111512,50184,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-202457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-george-best","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-norman-whiteside","13":"tag-sir-alex-ferguson","14":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115620045616326660","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}