This page was inspired by someone asking me if there was
ever a George Best doll, er... action figure, made in the
sixties. I have to admit I don't know. There is certainly
a George Best everything else, so I thought anything I
came across I would add to this page.
If you
have a prize Best product and can scan a photograph of
it, then please do and I'll add it to this page.
Here's a
couple to get us going :
The First
Official George Best Jigsaw Puzzle.
The First Official George Best Jigsaw Puzzle.
Dear
Bob
My
name is Mike Duffy and I am a journalist with News
Ltd in Adelaide, Australia. I was quite fascinated to
discover that you had posted an image of the George
Best Jigsaw puzzle on your web site. If you look on
the box you will see that it was produced by Michael
Duffy and Associates, a company I owned in the 1960s.
I
knew George from the time he arrived in Manchester,
and signed a contract to produce an official George
Best jigsaw.
Just
prior to its release, George was sent off playing for
Northern Ireland for spitting at the referee, got in
trouble for allegedly hitting his Swedish girlfriend
– a claim I refuse to believe to this day –
and went on record during a newspaper interview
claiming all English girls were “scrubbers”.
Overnight, he went from being the biggest commercial
name in Europe to one less than commercial and I didn’t
sell too many jigsaw puzzles. In fact, I had to burn
the best part of the 10,000 print run to satisfy the
tax office who were demanding I pay three shillings
per unit in sales tax.
I
last saw George when he visited Australia in the
1980s. We had a good laugh about our youth in
Manchester.
Like
the rest of the soccer world, I am praying George’s
fight for life is successful and resumes something
like normality.
His
only real flaw was not being able to handle the fame
at the tender age of 17. As a soccer player he ranked
with Pele and the other greats of the game. As a
person, he has a tremendous sense of humour and was
always loyal to his friends. Too many people took
advantage of George and helped him spend his money.
Had he listened to the advice of our mutual friend
Selwyn Demmy, his life could have been different.
With
regards
Mike Duffy
A George Best
Birthday card - for your brother!
Click here to see the picture full size.
(This picture is
a large size, if you want to actually use it why not save
it to your desktop , then choose 'File' - 'Print Preview'
,which will make it a neat A4 size)
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