George Best, was he Irish or British?

Hahaha

 

Read it and weep half-wits.

:bbpd:

 

That isn't what I'm on about..

"So he cannot be British" - Was that.

 

He is not British. He cannot be. People born in Ireland (North or Republic) are Irish.
That's my point. NI is not part of GB. So he cannot even be called British - no matter what the Unionist hoardes would have us believe.
And it's probably a Unionist thing to call him 'British'.

 

Of course it doesn't. I was just wondering. I didn't ask if he had been Catholic or Protestant, I was wondering if he had been Irish. He is and will be one of my favorite players.

And Unionist usually declare themselves as British and I do not see if there is something wrong if i ask if he was ethnic Irish or British (Ulster Scot, English).

 

So that British passport means nothing then or is that just your opinion?

 

That isn’t correct either.

British passports say: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The North of Ireland is not part of Britain. It is however, a devolved region of the UK.

Anyone born in the North can claim Irish citizenship, British citizenship; or both.

Best is probably considered both British and Irish. However, I believe Best only referred to himself as Irish.

The man didn’t have a bigoted bone in his body.

That "I’d be out throwing stones at Catholics" quote was very much tongue in cheek.

 

He probably wanted to say that his life would be usual for people of that time and nothing else left to him. Those times were problematic.

 

he's both irish and british he's from northern ireland and they are british

 

"Maradona good, Pele better, George Best!"

 

Best Name Meaning and History
English, northern Irish, and French: from Middle English, Old French beste ‘animal’, ‘beast’ (Latin bestia), applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts—a herdsman— or as a derogatory nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal, i.e. a violent, uncouth, or stupid man. It is unlikely that the name is derived from best, Old English betst, superlative of good. By far the most frequent spelling of the French surname is Beste, but it is likely that in North America this form has largely been assimilated to Best.
German: from a short form of Sebastian.

Source(s):
ancestry.com

Aside from all this *,Georgie boy was a true fooballing legend...an Irish one as far as i'm concerned :bbpd:

 

Good.

 

He was born in N Ireland like me, anybody born on the island of Ireland is irish although some like to identify themselves a British. Best was Protestant but i don't think he was that bothered about religion.

 

He was born in Ireland, so he was Irish religious differences never seemed to bother him. But just because he/his family were protestant, that doesn't make them any less Irish than any Catholic families also born in Ireland.

 

Correct.:icon_mrgreen:

 

I met a protestant guy from Ulster who is ethnic Irish. He told me his ancestors had changed their religion. He told me he wasn't descendent of planters, he said he had Celtic origin. And although he is protestant, he supports United Ireland. As far as I am concerned, I think it is ethnic problem. Ethnic Irish-Protestants or Catholics support UNITED IRELAND and I believe that planters (even if some of them are Catholics are Unionists-but probably, it would be an achievement to find catholic planters' descendent) want 6 counties to be a part of UK.
Anyway, William Smith O'Brien was Irish as we can see in his name, and he was protestant.

 

Best said in interviews he would like to play for a United Ireland, and he actually did on several occasions mainly before the troubles

 

It would be a great thing. George Best was a fantastic player.

 

There is an interview with Best in 4-4-2 magazine from a while back not sure what year but you can find it online.
Anyway when asked: Do you think there can ever be an All Ireland team he says "I think there should be" and "if it helps in some small way to resolve other problems then it should be encouraged. It would help bring about a sense of togetherness".
Then when asked Do you wish you were born English he says "No of course not"