Five reasons why Best was a genius
"The pitches were terrible and your opponents wanted to hurt you. Norman Hunter, Tommy Smith and Ron Harris were good players but they were cruel in the way they played. "It didn't bother George.
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'. McIlroy was 13 when he went to Windsor Park to watch Best produce what is dubbed as the 'game of his life' for Northern Ireland against Scotland.
"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. "Everything came naturally to him. Left foot, right foot, shoot, head, tackle.
" But there was more to Best than what he did on matchday. McIlroy recounts he was a fierce competitor in training. And, at odds with the devil-may-care attitude his off-field antics often portrayed, he was also a father figure to young Northern Irish boys like him who travelled to England with dreams of playing for Manchester United.