Background
George Best was born on 22 May 1946, and grew up in Cregagh, east Belfast. He was the first child of Richard "Dickie" Best and Anne Best.
George Best
George Best practising his skills before a game for Manchester United in 1963
1964-1965 Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool Best crosses the ball with the Old Trafford floodlights prominently in the background in a season when United went on to claim the title
Best, left, and Nobby Stiles hold aloft the League Championship trophy at Old Trafford at the end of the 1964-65 season.
Best in action for Northern Ireland against England at Wembley in November 1965, causing problems for the defenders George Cohen, left, and Jack Charlton
Best celebrates after scoring the third goal in an FA Cup fifth-round win over Wolves at Molineux with team-mate David Herd in March 1966
27th March 1968Division One: Best scores past Manchester City goalkeeper Ken Mulhearn inside the first minute of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford in March 1968, although City went on to win the game 3-1.
Best is flanked by Pat Crerand, left and manager Matt Busby as they celebrate with the European Cup following their historic victory over Benfica at Wembley in May 1968, the first English side to win the trophy.
Best scores against Sheffield Wednesday in 1968
One of the most memorable matches in Best’s career, the day he scored six goals at Northampton Town in an FA Cup fifth round match in February 1970.
Dublin, Ireland
Arriving in Dublin in his Rolls Royce Best is mobbed by some of the 15,000 strong crowd in August 1970
Matt Busby, centre, with the Manchester United players (left to right) Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, George Best, Brian Kidd, Pat Crerand and David Sadler at Manchester United’s Cliff training ground
Best shoots despite the attentions of Chelsea’s Ron “Chopper” Harris at Old Trafford in 1971
Best controls the ball under the watchful eye of England’s Martin Peters in 1971
Manchester United coaches Malcolm Musgrove and Laurie Brown, right, during Best’s pre-season physical examination at Old Trafford in July 1971
Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom
The United Trinity statue of Best (left), Denis Law (centre) and Bobby Charlton (right) outside Old Trafford
George Best pictured in January 1964
George Best practising his skills before a game for Manchester United in 1963
1964-1965 Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool Best crosses the ball with the Old Trafford floodlights prominently in the background in a season when United went on to claim the title
Best, left, and Nobby Stiles hold aloft the League Championship trophy at Old Trafford at the end of the 1964-65 season.
Best in action for Northern Ireland against England at Wembley in November 1965, causing problems for the defenders George Cohen, left, and Jack Charlton
Best celebrates after scoring the third goal in an FA Cup fifth-round win over Wolves at Molineux with team-mate David Herd in March 1966
27th March 1968Division One: Best scores past Manchester City goalkeeper Ken Mulhearn inside the first minute of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford in March 1968, although City went on to win the game 3-1.
Best is flanked by Pat Crerand, left and manager Matt Busby as they celebrate with the European Cup following their historic victory over Benfica at Wembley in May 1968, the first English side to win the trophy.
Best scores against Sheffield Wednesday in 1968
One of the most memorable matches in Best’s career, the day he scored six goals at Northampton Town in an FA Cup fifth round match in February 1970.
Dublin, Ireland
Arriving in Dublin in his Rolls Royce Best is mobbed by some of the 15,000 strong crowd in August 1970
Matt Busby, centre, with the Manchester United players (left to right) Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, George Best, Brian Kidd, Pat Crerand and David Sadler at Manchester United’s Cliff training ground
Best shoots despite the attentions of Chelsea’s Ron “Chopper” Harris at Old Trafford in 1971
Best controls the ball under the watchful eye of England’s Martin Peters in 1971
Manchester United coaches Malcolm Musgrove and Laurie Brown, right, during Best’s pre-season physical examination at Old Trafford in July 1971
Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom
The United Trinity statue of Best (left), Denis Law (centre) and Bobby Charlton (right) outside Old Trafford
A 1984 studio shoot with his son Calum, then aged three. “He already knows a thing or two about football,” said George. “Ask him who’s the best, and he’ll say dad!”
George Best and Rodney Marsh
Former Manchester United soccer stars (left to right) Denis Law Bobby Charlton and George Best
George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law
George Best was born on 22 May 1946, and grew up in Cregagh, east Belfast. He was the first child of Richard "Dickie" Best and Anne Best.
In 1957, the academically gifted Best passed the 11-plus and went to Grosvenor High School, but he soon played truant as the school specialised in rugby. Best then moved to Lisnasharragh Secondary School, reuniting him with friends from primary school and allowing him to focus on football. He grew up supporting Glentoran and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
While still a schoolboy, Best was recommended to Manchester United by a local Belfast football scout, who called the youngster a “genius.”
Best joined the Manchester United at age 15, and he made his first-division debut two years later, in 1963. He was an immediate sensation, scoring acrobatic goals and helping United to a league title in his second season. He led the club to another league championship during the 1966–67 season. In 1968 he was named European Footballer of the Year and helped United become the first English club to win the European Cup. Best scored a total of 178 goals in his 466 career games with United.
After a bitter departure from United in 1974, he played for numerous lesser teams in Britain, Spain, Australia, and the United States until 1983. His drinking affected his play, however, and he became as well known for his squandered talent as for his undeniable brilliance. Best underwent a liver transplant in 2002 but ultimately was unable to overcome his alcoholism, and he died from a series of transplant-related infections that his compromised immune system could not combat.
He is regarded as one of the greatest dribblers in the history of the sport. His fame transcended the football world—Best was the first of many footballers to become a regular subject of the British tabloids.
Best was voted 8th in the World Soccer 100 greatest football players of the 20th century election in 1999 and was voted 16th in the IFFHS World Player of the Century election in 1999. He was on the six-man short list for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century in 1999. Best was one of the inaugural 22 inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, he was voted 19th in the public UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll and was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. On what would have been his 60th birthday, Belfast City Airport was renamed the George Best Belfast City Airport. According to the BBC, Best was remembered by mourners at his public funeral held in Belfast as "the beautiful boy" [with a] "beautiful game".
Best was brought up in the Free Presbyterian faith.
Quotations:
"Love is about mutual respect, apart from attraction."
"Maybe 'loner' is too strong a word, but I've always enjoyed being on my own."
"In 1969, I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life."
"My long hair and the sideburns made me stand out, really, because my hairstyle was completely different to the other footballers of that era."
"I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep."
"I can remember earning £5,000 a game playing for Hibs at the end of the Seventies. They let me commute from London, train on the Friday and play on Saturday. That lasted until my friends at the Inland Revenue decided to take two-thirds. That wasn't very entertaining for me."
"I always wanted more - more of everything."
"The nice thing is that when people come up to me, it's the football they remember, not all the other rubbish."
"Nobody knows me."
"Football is big business - you can't get away from it. But you have to separate that side from the playing."
The stylish Best became one of the iconic figures of “Swinging London” during the 1960s. Called the “Fifth Beatle,” the handsome Best had long hair that was an anomaly among footballers but was reminiscent of the “mop tops” of England’s preeminent rock and rollers, the Beatles. Like them, Best was a colossal celebrity.
Physical Characteristics: Best suffered from alcoholism for most of his adult life, leading to numerous controversies and, eventually, his death. Best was diagnosed with severe liver damage in March 2000. His liver was said to be functioning at only 20%. In 2001, he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. In August 2002, he had a successful liver transplant at King's College Hospital in London. He haemorrhaged so badly during the operation that he nearly died. The transplant was performed at public expense on the NHS, a decision which was controversial due to Best's alcoholism. The controversy was reignited in 2003 when he was spotted openly drinking white wine spritzers.
Quotes from others about the person
"It seems impossible to hurt him. All manner of men have tried to intimidate him. Best merely glides along, riding tackles and brushing giants aside like leaves."
— Joe Mercer, Manchester City manager, 1969.
"It's been a joke on the circuit ever since. You know, I'm on one side of the street, George Best is on the other. He nods to me and I dive under a bus."
— Northampton goalkeeper Kim Book laughs about the jibes he has faced since being fooled by Best's feint in the 1970 FA Cup game against Manchester United.
"George Best was one of the most talented players of all time and probably the best footballer who never made it to a major world final."
— 1974 World Cup winning West Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer.
Best married Angela MacDonald-Janes on 24 January 1978 at Candlelight Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, having met in the United States when Best was playing for the Los Angeles Aztecs. Their son, Calum, was born in 1981, but they separated the following year and divorced in 1986. He married Alex Pursey in 1995 in Kensington and Chelsea, London. They divorced in 2005 with no children.
1919–2008
1922–1978
She is an English model and former Playboy Bunny.
In 2004 she alleged that Best was violent towards her during their marriage, an issue that was covered in Best's authorised 1998 biography "Bestie" in which Alex claimed that Best punched her in the face on more than one occasion. Earlier in the book it is revealed that he struck another of his girlfriends at least once and was arrested and charged with assault on a waitress, Stevie Sloniecka, in November 1972, when he fractured her nose in Reuben's nightclub, Manchester. He was successfully defended when the case reached court in January 1973 by barrister George Carman QC, a close drinking companion of Best, as acknowledged in his book, Scoring at Half Time.
He is a British American television personality.
He is an English former footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster.
He is an English former football player, regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, and an essential member of the England team who won the World Cup in 1966, the year he also won the Ballon d'Or.
He is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward.
