George Best and 21 Others

In the spring of 1964 more than 50,000 people turned out to watch the two-legged semi-final of the FA Youth Cup between Manchester City and Manchester United. It was a time of great hope and excitement: a new era was to be ushered in, with the virtues of youth personified in the Beatles and Harold Wilson – and in the teams that played. But what happened next? For some, like George Best, it was the start of a golden era of success; but for others it was the highlight of a career that never happened. In Shindler’s compelling third book of his Manchester trilogy, he captures an era of high expectation, talking to many who played in or watched these famous games; but he also movingly portrays what went wrong for others.