Best: His Mother’s Son (BBC 2, Sunday) was, for those of us from a certain place and time, almost unbearably poignant. Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris — such a charming soubriquet — was a defender with Chelsea in the 1960s. He tells the story of his manager, Tommy Docherty, briefing him before a match against Manchester United. ‘They’ve got this new player called Best. Apparently he’s good. I want you to take him out.’
Harris pointed out that if he was too rough, he might get himself sent off.
‘Put it this way, son,’ said Docherty. ‘They’ll miss him more than we’ll miss you.’
And it is still true today. We miss him more than any other footballer. Soccer is actually a fairly boring game, since the aim is to get the ball somewhere without using a logical way of doing it, whether with a bat, a racquet, or your hands.
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