Sporting Witness, Sporting Witness, George Best scores a double hat-trick

Sporting Witness

Sporting Witness

George Best scores a double hat-trick

February 1, 2025

10 minutes

Available for over a year

On 7 February 1970, footballing legend George Best returned from a month-long ban to score six goals in one game.

The striker wanted to prove the critics wrong who said Manchester United had been playing better without him.

Ray Fairfax, from Northampton Town, was tasked with marking the Ballon d'Or winner.

He tells Vicky Farncombe the unusual methods his side used to prepare for the match – including drinking sherry and eggs - and how it felt to face Best’s skill.

“It seemed as though he was destined for everything that had gone before to say: ‘I'm here, this is what I can do.’,” says Ray.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.

Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.

(Photo: George Best. Credit: Getty Images)