When Best went to Hibernian

[BILLYHIBS]

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Was Ayr not a Scottish cup game , the weekend he got in with the French rugby team at the NB hotel.
Was a rumour that Tom Hart offered Best's £2k match fee split amongst the players as part of a win bonus.

Ayr was defo Scottish Cup

His home debut versus Partick Th 2-1 win was in the League

[Kato]

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I had the pleasure in watching every game that Best played for Hibs, including an extremely cold January midweek friendly down at Leicester.

It was slightly snowy.

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[Turkish Green]

I still recall chanting "Angie, Angie, show us your tits"

[mim]

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Sure it was played on a Saturday. I used to work until 2pm and had to dash to Easter Road and join a big queue to get in.

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Positive it was Saturday. Biggest 20k crowd of all time and I got a fag burn on my hand as I was squeezed in the crowd and some arse had their cig at waiste level. Crammed in so tight I struggled to get my hand away. Must have been 30k there and the biscuit tin would have paid Georges wages for a few week

It was of course a Saturday league game, as you say.
My foggy memory has mixed up that game with the Ayr cup tie, which was on a Sunday.

[G B Young]

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I'm not sure where the NB Hotel story comes from. As you say, he lived in Palmerston Place
I worked in Manor Place at the time and would often see George in the afternoon in Hills bookies in William Street. We would talk football and horses. A couple of times we went over the road to the Melville Bar for a drink, but George stuck to orange juice. The problem was that when he did fall off the wagon, he fell a long way.
That first game at St Mirren was incredible. I managed to get in about 15 minutes after the start, but couldn't find a spot to watch the game until half time when folk went for a pee. He was excellent. He scored and was unlucky not to equalise right at the death.
The following Sunday we played Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup at Easter Road and there was a group of St Mirren fans sitting right behind me in the the old North Stand. They just wanted to see more of Bestie.
What a player.

According to the late Stewart Brown of the Evening News in his book Hibernian Greats, Best definitely stayed at the NB, at least for part of his time at Hibs. The French rugby team had their post-match dinner there after playing Scotland which is how he ended up drinking with them.

That Sky article quotes Eddie Turnbull as saying the deal was done behind his back. I'm not sure if he means that he never wanted to sign Best or that the terms of his contract were negotiated behind his back. Stewart Brown, again, writes that he accompanied Tom Hart and Turnbull to a hotel down south to meet with Best and open negotiations so Eddie was definitely in on the deal to a large extent. 2k per game plus another 2k if he played a certain number of games was the deal Best accepted (little wonder as that was big money back then, especially for a Scottish football club).

[G B Young]

For me the curious part of Best's time with Hibs was that he came back to play for us after we'd been relegated. Hard to believe he would have been on the same money for those games? The reason Tom Hart shelled out so much the previous season was due to his desperation not to see Hibs relegated.

Anyone see him play for us in the First Division? I also recall watching him a couple of years later when he came back to play in a testimonial (Jackie McNamara's I think).

[AltheHibby]

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Can get it for a fiver from here

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/b...EaAv5bEALw_wcB

I just used them to get a book sent to Australia for my son. I definitely recommend them.

Back on subject, I was a BT apprentice and went to Telford College with another apprentice (Gordon Fraser I think) who played for Meadowbank. I remember him telling us that he tried to tackle Best and only managed to kick him as Best was so quick. He said he was embarrassed that he had kicked a legend.

On a personal note, I live in Dudley where we have a statue of Duncan Edwards. Whenever I pass it I always wonder if he would have surpassed Best as Britain's greatest ever player if he hadn't died at Munich.

[Jack]

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According to the late Stewart Brown of the Evening News in his book Hibernian Greats, Best definitely stayed at the NB, at least for part of his time at Hibs. The French rugby team had their post-match dinner there after playing Scotland which is how he ended up drinking with them.

That Sky article quotes Eddie Turnbull as saying the deal was done behind his back. I'm not sure if he means that he never wanted to sign Best or that the terms of his contract were negotiated behind his back. Stewart Brown, again, writes that he accompanied Tom Hart and Turnbull to a hotel down south to meet with Best and open negotiations so Eddie was definitely in on the deal to a large extent. 2k per game plus another 2k if he played a certain number of games was the deal Best accepted (little wonder as that was big money back then, especially for a Scottish football club).

There's a number of stories about him being at the NB, the one you mention and one with rangers fans before a match against them probably among the most infamous. He maybe stayed there on occasions when it was too late ;-) to go home!

He definitely stayed in Palmerston Place from very soon after he signed, number 54 in fact. I lived at #62 at the time.

[green with envy]

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It was slightly snowy.

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It certainly was. Our bus arrived at the ground about 4.30 and we all poured into the stadium. There was no one around for which some folk took it up on themselves to bottles of spirits and the match programmes for which well travelled Hibby that is no longer with us, ended getting banged up for the night after getting caught with about 50 programmes in his possession.

[G B Young]

Trying to work out Best is celebrating here (along with the Hibs fans on the pitch)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV3p4UIot4w

[Keith_M]

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Trying to work out Best is celebrating here (along with the Hibs fans on the pitch)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV3p4UIot4w

The strip he's wearing is the one we had in the First Division, and he only played four games for us that season, so that narrows it down a bit.

The opposition was one of Dundee, Raith Rovers or Falkirk... so it depends which one of them we beat when he was playing. ;-)

[G B Young]

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The strip he's wearing is the one we had in the First Division, and he only played four games for us that season, so that narrows it down a bit.

The opposition was one of Dundee, Raith Rovers or Falkirk... so it depends which one of them we beat when he was playing. ;-)

Yes, I noticed that about the strip. According to these stats he also played two League Cup ties that season:

https://www.fitbastats.com/hibs/play...?playerid=6259

The two games there that appear most likely are the away win over Dundee or the home win over Falkirk. The latter appears to have been the last game he played for us, while the former was an evening game so I'll plump for the latter - which I guess means he's saying farewell to the fans.

It looks as though he only came back to play for Hibs in the September of that season. Did we re-sign him? As I've said in an earlier post it's hard to believe he would have been brought back on the same pay that he earned in his top-flight spell with Hibs.

[Keith_M]

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Yes, I noticed that about the strip. According to these stats he also played two League Cup ties that season:

https://www.fitbastats.com/hibs/play...?playerid=6259

The two games there that appear most likely are the away win over Dundee or the home win over Falkirk. The latter appears to have been the last game he played for us, while the former was an evening game so I'll plump for the latter - which I guess means he's saying farewell to the fans.
...

That's interesting, cheers

[tamig]

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For me the curious part of Best's time with Hibs was that he came back to play for us after we'd been relegated. Hard to believe he would have been on the same money for those games? The reason Tom Hart shelled out so much the previous season was due to his desperation not to see Hibs relegated.

Anyone see him play for us in the First Division? I also recall watching him a couple of years later when he came back to play in a testimonial (Jackie McNamara's I think).

Yes I was at most of the games he played in the First Division season. It was a real surprise he came back. A lot of folk overlook that he played for us again after relegation.

[stantonhibby]

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Trying to work out Best is celebrating here (along with the Hibs fans on the pitch)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV3p4UIot4w

Maybe that was his last ever game for us?