They Moved the Goalposts for George Best. He Was There | Anthony Parker | Football for Breakfast

Anthony Parker's first ever football match was a Matt Busby testimonial. George Best was on the pitch. They moved the goalposts to the 18-yard line because Best was carrying a few extra years and a few extra pounds by then, and nobody wanted to see him embarrassed. He played ten minutes. He had bags and bags of skill. Anthony was five or six years old. He never forgot it. In episode eleven of Football for Breakfast, Jim Johnson sits down with Anthony in the greasy spoon cafe to talk about Manchester United, the weight of history and what it means to be a fan of a club that has built its identity on tragedy as much as triumph. They talk about the Busby Babes, Duncan Edwards - who broke into the United first team and the England squad at 18 with virtually no substitutes available, which Anthony says makes him probably the best player in the world at that age - and the way the Munich air disaster created something mystical about United that even their rivals can't fully deny. They talk about the 1992-93 season, when Anthony's dad turned up on the Sunday with scarves hanging out the window, a cake and a bottle of champagne. Twenty-six years. Worth every second of the wait. Midway through the conversation, Man United call. Anthony answers. He tells them he's recording a podcast. He hangs up. In the second half Anthony talks about a career that started at 17 in an accounts department that happened to be in the gates and barriers industry - and ended up, thirty-odd years later, as managing director of Country Gates and Barriers. He didn't plan it. He found his rhythm. He found something he was good at and let it take him somewhere. He brings a ticket stub to the table. The Champions League group stage game against Fenerbahce, 2004. Wayne Rooney's Manchester United debut. A hat trick. Anthony was in the stadium. He watched the whole thing happen from the beginning. The result he'll never get over? Agüero. QPR. The last minute. The one where City didn't even have to be that good. Jim closes on him: proof that if you find your rhythm and back yourself, the results take care of themselves. This is Football for Breakfast. Cafes. Clubs. Communities. Culture. --- ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:33 Welcome to Football for Breakfast 01:28 Roy of the Rovers - Colin Moynihan, Thatcher and the membership scheme 03:10 Anthony's earliest memory - Matt Busby's testimonial 03:35 George Best with the goalposts moved to the 18-yard line 04:24 The 1992-93 season - dad with the cake and the champagne 05:22 The multi-generational United fan 06:35 The Fergie versus Wenger rivalry - finessed by the media? 08:21 Manchester United's culture - everyone looks you in the eye at the Cliff 10:14 Duncan Edwards - the greatest loss in football history 11:31 Did your dad remember the Busby Babes? 12:18 Munich - built on the shoulders of special people 14:34 Football united after Munich - City and Liverpool lent players 15:32 Madison Park - Anthony's grassroots team 16:03 His daughter now plays for the same club 17:38 The evolution of the women's game 18:43 OSS Security - presented by OSS Security 19:44 Country Gates and Barriers - finding his rhythm at 17 20:09 From accounts to MD - staying in one industry 21:03 Managing people and growing a business 22:00 Man United call mid-recording 23:05 The ticket stub - Fenerbahce, 2004, Rooney's hat trick debut 24:18 Rooney and Ronaldo - the best partnership in United's history 25:24 Wayne Rooney at Euro 2004 - the best player in the world at 18 26:31 Penalty shootout - five quickfire questions 27:04 VAR - losing the sarcasm at Old Trafford 28:12 One result he'll never get over - Agüero, QPR, the last minute 29:14 Anthony becomes a Good Companion --- 🎙 ABOUT ANTHONY PARKER Anthony Parker is Managing Director of Country Gates and Barriers - the UK's leading specialist in bespoke automated access solutions and the North West's leading experts in secure automated gates, access control and perimeter security. They know how to make an entrance. A lifelong Manchester United fan from Chadderton, Anthony has spent over thirty years building a career in an industry he stumbled into at 17 and never left. 🔗 LINKS Country Gates and Barriers: countrygatesandbarriers.co.uk OSS Security: osssecurity.com Football for Breakfast newsletter: footballforbreakfastpod.com/newsletter 🎧 Search Football for Breakfast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Football for Breakfast is a production by The Good Companions, presented by OSS Security. New episode every Tuesday morning. #FootballForBreakfast #AnthonyParker #ManchesterUnited #GeorgeBest #WayneRooney #BusbyBabes #DuncanEdwards #MunichAirDisaster #FootballPodcast #FootballCulture #GoodCompanions #OldTrafford