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George Best

Statistics for Manchester United
470
Career Appearances

George Best (Northern Ireland) made 470 appearances for Manchester United between 1963-1964 and 1973-1974, scoring 177 goals.

Forward b. 22 May 1946 – d. 25 Nov 2005 (aged 59) Cregagh, Belfast, Ireland 1.75 m (5′9″)

Northern Ireland · Left Manchester United in 1974

Stats
177 (10 pen)
Goals
470
Starts
0
Sub Apps
11
Seasons
2
Red Cards
1963-1964 → 1973-1974
5th top scorer in club history 15th most appearances
Honours at Manchester United
3 trophies

Counts seasons in which George Best made at least one first-team appearance while the club won the trophy — squad membership, not a record of medals awarded (competitions set their own appearance thresholds for a medal). The number on each season is George Best’s appearances in all competitions that year, so you can judge how big a part they played. Full honours board →

Goals & Appearances
Season by Season
Season Apps Starts Sub Goals Ast Mins xG
1973-1974 12 12 0 2 — — —
1972-1973 23 23 0 4 (2p) — — —
1971-1972 53 53 0 26 (2p) — — —
1970-1971 48 48 0 21 (1p) — — —
1969-1970 53 53 0 23 (1p) — — —
1968-1969 55 55 0 22 (1p) — — —
1967-1968 53 53 0 32 (2p) — — —
1966-1967 45 45 0 10 (1p) — — —
1965-1966 43 43 0 17 — — —
1964-1965 59 59 0 14 — — —
1963-1964 26 26 0 6 — — —
Compare

Appearances, goals and starts span the club's full history. Minutes and assists are recorded from 1992–93 onward; xG only from 2016–17 — anything not covered shows “—”. Goals per game is not era-adjusted, so scoring rates aren't directly comparable across eras.

Appearances by Manager
4 managers
Manager Apps Starts Sub Goals
Matt Busby 300 300 0 113
Wilf McGuinness 82 82 0 30
Frank O'Farrell 76 76 0 27
Tommy Docherty 12 12 0 2
Record by Opponent
62 opponents
Opponent Apps Goals W D L
West Bromwich Albion 18 10 9 4 5
West Ham United 16 10 7 5 4
Southampton 17 8 10 3 4
Sheffield Wednesday 12 8 6 4 2
Stoke City 25 7 7 14 4
Tottenham Hotspur 22 7 10 4 8
Burnley 20 7 9 8 3
Sunderland 15 7 6 7 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 15 7 8 5 2
Liverpool 20 6 8 5 7
Nottingham Forest 16 6 10 3 3
Newcastle United 15 6 6 4 5
Northampton Town 3 6 2 1 0
Coventry City 12 5 5 2 5
Ipswich Town 12 5 7 2 3
Everton 19 4 8 4 7
Chelsea 18 4 5 6 7
Leicester City 15 4 6 5 4
Sheffield United 12 4 7 2 3
Derby County 9 4 4 3 2
Fulham 9 4 6 2 1
Queens Park Rangers 3 4 2 0 1
Leeds United 18 3 1 8 9
Arsenal 16 3 8 4 4
Manchester City 15 3 3 4 8
Birmingham City 7 3 4 2 1
Huddersfield Town 4 3 3 1 0
Benfica 3 3 3 0 0
Crystal Palace 7 2 4 2 1
Middlesbrough 7 2 3 3 1
Rapid Vienna 2 2 1 1 0
Bolton Wanderers 1 2 1 0 0
Hjk Helsinki 1 2 1 0 0
Aston Villa 7 1 3 1 3
Blackpool 7 1 4 2 1
Blackburn Rovers 4 1 3 1 0
Borussia Dortmund 2 1 2 0 0
Djurgardens IF 2 1 1 1 0
Real Madrid 2 1 1 1 0
Sarajevo 2 1 1 1 0
Aldershot 1 1 1 0 0
Barnsley 1 1 1 0 0
Chester City 1 1 1 0 0
Wrexham 1 1 1 0 0
Bristol Rovers 3 — 1 1 1
Ferencvaros 3 — 1 0 2
Watford 3 — 2 1 0
AC Milan 2 — 1 0 1
ASK Vorwarts 2 — 2 0 0
Estudiantes De La Plata 2 — 0 1 1
Gornik Zabrze 2 — 1 0 1
Hibernians 2 — 1 1 0
Norwich City 2 — 0 1 1
Oxford United 2 — 1 1 0
Preston North End 2 — 1 1 0
Rotherham United 2 — 1 1 0
Sporting Club Lisbon 2 — 1 0 1
Strasbourg 2 — 1 1 0
Waterford 2 — 2 0 0
Exeter City 1 — 1 0 0
Partizan Belgrade 1 — 0 0 1
Portsmouth 1 — 1 0 0

Goals in this table come from match-level scorer records, which credit George Best with 172; the official career total is 177. Scorer attribution in the historical match data doesn’t fully agree with career records.

Hat-Tricks
4 games
Date Opponent Comp Score Goals Minutes
7 Feb 1970 @ Northampton Town FAC W 8–2 6 27', 36', 51', 62', 72', 86'
27 Nov 1971 @ Southampton D1 W 5–2 3 7', 47', 58'
18 Sep 1971 West Ham United D1 W 4–2 3 21', 43', 80'
4 May 1968 Newcastle United D1 W 6–0 3 23', 27' pen, 55' pen
Minutes marked pen were scored from the penalty spot.
Match Appearances
Date Comp Opponent Score Goals Role
1 Jan 1974 D1 @ Queens Park Rangers L 0–3 S
29 Dec 1973 D1 Ipswich Town W 2–0 S
26 Dec 1973 D1 Sheffield United L 1–2 S
22 Dec 1973 D1 @ Liverpool L 0–2 S
15 Dec 1973 D1 Coventry City L 2–3 goal S
8 Dec 1973 D1 Southampton D 0–0 S
24 Nov 1973 D1 Norwich City D 0–0 S
17 Nov 1973 D1 @ Newcastle United L 2–3 S
10 Nov 1973 D1 @ Tottenham Hotspur L 1–2 goal S
3 Nov 1973 D1 Chelsea D 2–2 S
Red Cards
2 dismissals
Date Opponent Competition Min Type Score
18 Aug 1971 Chelsea D1 — Direct Red W 3–2
16 Oct 1968 Estudiantes De La Plata IC — Direct Red D 1–1

Appearance and goal records compiled from mufcinfo.com; minutes, assists and advanced stats (xG, ratings) via Transfermarkt and FBref where available. Last updated 29 September 2026. How we compile this data →