George Best would have turned 80 on 22 May—and six decades after he first dazzled home audiences, the legendary Northern Ireland and Manchester United footballer remains a towering figure in the sport's imagination. It has been over 40 years since he last played a game, yet his legacy endures with such force that fans and fellow professionals still argue whether anyone has ever been better.

For those too young to have witnessed Best's brilliance firsthand, there is a useful modern comparison. Sammy McIlroy, himself a Manchester United and Northern Ireland great who grew up watching Best, sees echoes of the maestro in contemporary football. "Lionel Messi is close to Best in the way he plays," McIlroy reflected. "He can dribble, beat people, score goals and make goals." But McIlroy emphasizes that Best operated in a fundamentally different era. "Messi has got this amazing dribbling ability. Best had that too but it was in the 1960s, when the conditions were much different to the way they are now. The pitches were terrible and your opponents wanted to hurt you."

McIlroy was speaking from lived experience. He was 13 years old when he traveled to Windsor Park to watch Best produce what would become known as the "game of his life" for Northern Ireland against Scotland—a performance so singular and commanding that it shaped McIlroy's own footballing dreams. "I never saw another performance like it in my life," he said. "It was a one-man show. He made me want to be a footballer. He made me want to join Manchester United."

What made Best's talent so complete was its scope. Everything came naturally to him—left foot, right foot, the ability to shoot, to head, even to tackle. The rough defenders of that era—Norman Hunter, Tommy Smith, Ron Harris—were formidable opponents, but Best refused to be intimidated. As McIlroy recalled, "It didn't matter who was dishing it out. He used to take the rough stuff, get up and say, 'come on then, let's have some more'."

Yet Best's genius extended beyond match days. McIlroy remembers him as a fierce competitor in training and, more unexpectedly, as a mentor and father figure to young Belfast boys arriving at Manchester United with dreams in their pockets. "He was a natural lad, a lovely lad," McIlroy said. "George always had time for you. I really admired that." When McIlroy signed as an apprentice in 1969, Best immediately reached out to his family. "Right away he came across and spoke to them. I was standing there listening to him telling my parents he would look after me. My dad's eyes were just glued on Bestie. He never opened his mouth. He was just in awe of George."

This was the full measure of Best's character—not just the dazzling skills that made defenders look foolish on the pitch, but the generous spirit that made young players feel welcome and seen in a foreign land. In an era when football was slower and cruder, Best rose above both with grace and ferocity, leaving an imprint that endures nearly half a century after his final game.