{{Short description|British football writer}} {{for|the Australian politician|Geoffrey Green (politician)}} {{cleanup reorganize|date=April 2021}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
'''Geoffrey Green''' OBE (12 May 1911 – 9 May 1990) was an English football writer. Geoffrey Green was educated at Shrewsbury School,<ref>{{cite web |last=Keating |first=Frank |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/oct/17/cricket.comment |title=Sir Neville's pastoral idyll embraces the high-tech era |accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref> where he played football. He started writing about football for The Times in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chisari |first=Fabio |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportsHistorian/2000/sh201f.pdf |title=‘DEFINITELY NOT CRICKET’ THE TIMES AND THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP 1930-1970 |location=Leicester, United Kingdom |accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref> He is considered to be the godfather of football reporting, although he remained anonymous in the paper until 23 January 1967. He also broadcast on football for BBC Radio.
Green was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1946 Birthday Honours, and promoted to Officer (OBE) in the 1976 New Year Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37598|date=4 June 1946|supp=y|pages=2781}}</ref><ref>UK list: {{London Gazette |issue=46777 |date=30 December 1975 |pages=11 |supp=y |nolink=yes}}</ref>
==Match of the Century== Most noteworthy of his work was covering the "Match of the Century" on 25 November 1953, wherein Hungary beat England by the 6-3 scoreline under the heading "A New Conception of Football".<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Geoffey |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1023172.ece |title=A New Conception of Football |accessdate=18 October 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> It was England's first defeat at Wembley, and the inventors of football were described by him as "strangers in a strange world."
The best goal of the game was scored by Ferenc Puskas; having received the ball from Czibor on the right near the six-yard box when the England captain Billy Wright went towards him for the tackle, Puskas drew the ball back as Wright charged past "like a fire engine going to the wrong fire" leaving the Hungarian captain free to score from his powerful left-foot.<ref>{{cite web |last=Glanville |first=Brian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/18/guardianobituaries.football |title=Ferenc Puskas |accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref>
Green retired from The Times in 1976 after nearly 40 years of distinguished service.
==Inspired by Manchester United== Newspapers continued to be printed in Manchester until the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Kevin |title=Read All About It!: A History of the British Newspaper |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |page=214}}</ref> During this period, the youth-focused approach introduced by Matt Busby at Manchester United attracted considerable public attention, particularly through the emergence of players such as Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton and George Best from the club's youth system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Alex |title=The Busby Babes |publisher=Headline |year=2006 |page=87}}</ref> Sports journalist Geoffrey Green covered Manchester United extensively during this era and witnessed the careers of these players during their peak years.<ref>{{cite news |date=1998 |title=Geoffrey Green obituary |access-date=17 May 2026 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
Reported on perhaps one of the greatest games ever played in the FA Cup where Manchester United beat Aston Villa 6–4 in a 3rd round match '""They thought as one man and moved as one at top speed. Here was the sort of football one dreams about . . .""'<ref>{{cite web |last=Lacey |first=David |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/villa-park-brings-out-the-best-in-united-1.1045688 |title=Villa Park brings out the best in United |accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref>
Green was one of a very few journalists to have seen, up close, the player called Duncan Edwards, to whom he devoted an entire chapter in his book ''Soccer in The Fifties''. "His talent, his energy, his unselfconscious fun and enjoyment of the chase, his ability to make everything seem possible, all this added up to a volcano of excitement that gripped the crowds and the game wherever he played".
Of significance to Manchester United supporters, Green captured the arrival of George Best against Benfica in the 1966 European Cup quarter-final in a splendid form "Night a star was born", wherein he described Best's goal as "gliding like a dark ghost past three men, to break clear and slide the ball home - a beautiful goal." Quintessential Best as The Beatle who "was the best of all, as he set a new almost unexplored beat" with his "long dark mop of hair, is known in these parts as The Beatle."
==Books== # ''The Official History of the FA Cup'' (1949)<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Geoffrey |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-History-F-Cup/dp/B0007J78TU/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445185941&sr=1-8 |title=The Official History of the F A Cup |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> # ''History of The Football Association'' (1953)<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Geoffrey |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/HISTORY-FOOTBALL-ASSOCIATION-Geoffrey-Green/dp/B001GT5G8U/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445185941&sr=1-9 |title=THE HISTORY OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> # ''Soccer in The Fifties''<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Geoffrey |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soccer-Fifties-Geoffrey-Green/dp/0711005664/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445185941&sr=1-4 |title=Soccer in the Fifties |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> # ''There's Only One United'' (1978)<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Geoffrey |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theres-Only-One-United-Manchester/dp/0340228954/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445185941&sr=1-6 |title=There's Only One United - The Official Centenary History of Manchester United 1878-1978 |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> # ''Pardon me for living'' (autobiography)<ref>{{cite web |last=Keating |first=Frank |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/oct/17/cricket.comment |title=Sir Neville's pastoral idyll embraces the high-tech era |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Geoffrey}} Category:1911 births Category:British football commentators Category:1990 deaths Category:British sportswriters Category:The Times people Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:20th-century British male journalists