George Best

In 1968, the year of the Ballon d'Or, George Best scored in the European Cup final and became the first winner from the British Isles. He was 22. He had already outgrown the sport's ability to describe him: a Belfast telegram boy's son who arrived at Manchester United at 15 and within four years was being measured against Pelé — by Pelé.

His game was improvisation made to look inevitable. The body feints, the drop of the shoulder, the sudden violence of acceleration — defenders described the experience as embarrassing rather than painful. He won everything by 27 and effectively walked away, spending his second act in a different kind of spotlight, one the modern game now finds unremarkable and 1968 found scandalous. His own verdict is the one that has lasted: they asked for his epitaph, and he offered three words — 'I spent a lot of it.' The game has never produced anyone less forgettable.