George Best
George
Best (22
May
1946 –
25 November
2005) was a
Northern Irish
football
player best known for his years with
Manchester United.
He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness,
goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders.[1]
In 1968, his
annus mirabilis,
he won the
European Cup
with Manchester United, and was named the
European Footballer of
the Year. When fit, he was an automatic choice for the
Northern Ireland
team, but he was unable to lead them to the
World Cup.
In
1999 he was voted 11th, behind
Marco van Basten,
at the
IFFHS European
Player of the Century election and 16th, behind
Lothar Matthäus,
in the World Player of the Century election.[2]
Pelé named him
as one of the 125 best living footballers in his
2004
FIFA 100 list
and Best was named 19th, behind
Gerd Müller,
at the
UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.
In his native Northern Ireland the admiration for him is summed up by the local
saying: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best."[3]
He was
one of the first celebrity footballers, but his extravangant lifestyle led to
problems with
alcoholism
which curtailed his playing career[4]
and eventually led to his death at the age of 59. His cause of death was a
kidney infection, a side-effect of the immuno-suppressive drugs he was required
to take after a liver transplant. Best's lovable, cheeky image won him many
fans, during his career and after, despite his public
drunkenness on
TV, his convictions for
drunk driving
and assaulting a policeman, allegations of
domestic violence,
and his inability to give up drinking even after the transplant. 100,000 people
turned out on a rainy day for his funeral in East Belfast.
Manchester United
At the
age of 15, Best was discovered in
Belfast by
Manchester United scout
Bob Bishop,
whose telegram to United manager
Matt Busby
read: "I think I've found you a genius."
His local club
Glentoran had
previously rejected him for being "too small and light".[6]
Best was subsequently given a trial and signed up by chief scout
Joe Armstrong.
Best made
his Manchester United debut, aged 17, on
14 September
1963 against
West Bromwich Albion
at
Old Trafford
in a 1-0 victory. Two weeks later Best scored his first goal against
Burnley. By
the close of the season Best had 6 goals, and Manchester United finished second,
behind champions
Liverpool.
In his
second season, 1964-65, Best and Manchester United claimed the league title.
Best hit
the headlines the age of twenty when he scored two goals in a European Cup
quarter-final match against
Benfica in
1966, and was dubbed "El Beatle" in the press.
Best's talent and showmanship made him a crowd and media favourite. He was
dubbed "the
fifth Beatle"
for his long hair, good looks and extravagant celebrity lifestyle, and even
appeared on
Top of the Pops
in 1965.[7]
Other nicknames included the "Belfast Boy". His first name was often abbreviated
to Georgie, or Geordie in his native Belfast.[8]
The
1966-67 season was again successful as Manchester United claimed the league
title by four points. The following season Best became a
European Cup
winner after scoring in the final against Benfica. United won 4-1 and Best was
later crowned
European Footballer of
the Year and
Football Writers'
Association Player of the Year; after that began a steady decline.
He opened
two nightclubs in Manchester, in the late 1960s, Oscar's and the other
called Slack Alice's (which later became
42nd Street Nightclub).
He also owned fashion boutiques, in partnership with
Mike Summerbee
of
Manchester City.
However, he developed problems with gambling, womanising and
alcoholism.
In 1974,
aged 27, Best was sacked by United for excessive drinking and persistent failure
to attend training sessions and matches. His last competitive game for the club
was on
1 January
1974 against
Queens Park Rangers
at
Loftus Road.
In total
Best made 466 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions from 1963 to
1974, and scored 178 goals (including six in one game against fourth division
Northampton Town).
He was the clubs top scorer for six consecutive seasons, and was the First
Division's top scorer in the 1967-68 season.
Over the
next decade he went into an increasingly rapid decline, drifting between several
clubs, including spells in America, Scotland, and Australia.
Fulham
Best had
a brief resurgence in form with
Fulham F.C. in
1976-77, showing that, although he had lost some of his pace, he retained his
skills. His time with the Cottagers is particularly remembered for an
FA Cup game
against second division outfit
Hereford United
in which he tackled his teammate, and old drinking mate,
Rodney Marsh.
Best stated later in life that he enjoyed his time most while at Fulham, despite
not winning any honours.
United States
Best
played for three clubs in the United States:
Los Angeles Aztecs,
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
and
San Jose Earthquakes;
he also played for the
Detroit Express
on an European tour. Best revelled in the anonymity America afforded him after
England and was a success on the field, too, scoring 15 goals in 24 games in his
first season with the Aztecs and was named as the NASL's best midfielder in his
second.[9]
He opened "Bestie's Beach Club" (now called "The Underground" after the London
subway system) in Hermosa Beach, California in the 1970s, and continued to
operate it until the 1990s.
In his
third season in the States Best scored only once in 12 appearances. His moves to
Fort Lauderdale and San Jose were also unhappy, as his off-field demons began to
take control of his life again. He was invited as a guest player and played
three matches for two Hong Kong First Division teams in 1982.[10].
In 1983 Best retired from the game at the age of 37. His last games as a
professional were with third division
A.F.C. Bournemouth.
In 1988 a testimonial match was held for Best at Windsor Park. Among the crowd
were
Sir Matt Busby
and
Bob Bishop,
the scout who discovered Best, while those playing included
Ossie Ardiles,
Pat Jennings
and
Liam Brady.
Best scored twice, one goal from outside the box, the other from the penalty
spot.
Northern Ireland
He was
capped 37
times for
Northern Ireland
, scoring nine goals. Of his nine international goals four were scored against
Cyprus and one
each against
Albania,
England,
Scotland,
Switzerland
and
Turkey.
On
15 May 1971, Best scored possibly his most famous "goal" of his career at
Windsor Park
in
Belfast
against
England. As
Gordon Banks,
the English goalkeeper, attempted to kick the ball downfield, Best kicked the
ball out of his hands over his head. The famous duo scrambled towards the net
but Best outpaced Banks and headed the ball into the empty goal. His effort was
disallowed for ungentlemanly conduct by a referee whose back had been turned
away from the incident.
Best was
considered briefly by manager
˙˙˙˙pan style="color: windowtext; te˙˙˙˙ecd
Billy Bingham
for the
1982 World Cup.
However, at 36 and with his football skills dulled by age and drink, he was not
selected in the Northern Ireland squad. In view of his home country's relative
lack of success, he was an advocate of an all-Ireland team.
Best
joins the company of current Manchester United star
Ryan Giggs,
who have never played in a World Cup tournament match despite being stars in
their professional club.
Career honours
With
Manchester United:
Personal:
Later careers
In
1998, Best
became a football pundit on
Sky Sports.
In
November
2004 Best
agreed to join
FA Premier League
club
Portsmouth F.C.
as a youth coach, citing his desire to get involved in football again.
Alcoholism
In
1984, Best
received a three-month prison sentence for
drunk driving,
assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail. He spent
Christmas of
1984 behind bars and turned out as a player for
Ford Open Prison.
On
2 February
2004, Best was
convicted of another drunk driving offence and banned from driving for 20
months.
In
September
1990, Best
appeared on an edition of primetime
BBC chat show
Wogan in
which he was clearly drunk and swore, at one point saying to the host, "Terry, I
like screwing".[11]
He later apologized and said this was one of the worst episodes of his
alcoholism.
In
2002, he had a
liver
transplant at
King's College Hospital in London. In
2003 he was
the focus of much criticism when, despite his transplant, he openly drank white
wine
spritzers and
was accused of being selfish and having no regard for other people's feelings.
Also in 2004, his second wife
Alex Best
appeared as a contestant on the reality television programme
I'm a Celebrity, Get Me
Out of Here! and alleged that Best
physically abused
her during their relationship.
Illness and death
Graffiti honouring Best like this one in
the
New Lodge area
appeared all over Belfast after his death.
Best
continued to drink, and was sometimes seen at his local
pub in
Petersfield, Hampshire.
On
3 October
2005 Best was
admitted to
intensive care
at the private
Cromwell Hospital
in London, suffering from
kidney problems
caused by the side-effects of immuno-suppressive drugs used to prevent his body
from rejecting his transplanted
liver. On
27 October,
newspapers stated that Best was close to death and had sent a farewell message
to his loved ones. Best's condition improved at first, but deteriorated again in
November. On
20 November
the British tabloid
News of the World
published a picture of Best at his own request, showing him in his hospital bed,
along with what was reported to be his final message: "Don't die like me".
In
the early hours of
25 November
2005 treatment
was stopped; he eventually died, after a battle that lasted longer than doctors
had expected, at 13:06 GMT from a
lung infection
and
multiple organ failure.[12]
The
FA Premier League
announced that a minute's silence would be observed before all Premiership games
to be held over the weekend of his death, however, this tradition was ignored at
many grounds, in favour of a minute's applause in his honour. The first match at
Old Trafford after Best's death was a League Cup tie against
West Bromwich Albion,
the club against which he made his debut for Manchester United in 1963. The
match was preceded by tributes from former team-mate
Sir Bobby Charlton,
and Best's son Callum and former team-mates, surviving members from the
West Bromwich Albion
team which he played against in his debut, all joined the current United squad
on the pitch for a minute's silence, during which fans held aloft pictures of
Best, which were given out to all fans before the match for free.
Funeral
His body
left the family home at Cregagh Road,
East Belfast,
shortly after 10 a.m.
UTC on
Saturday,
December 3,
2005. The
cortčge then travelled the short distance to
Stormont. The
route was lined with around 100,000 mourners. There was an 11 a.m. service in
the Grand Hall relayed to around 25,000 mourners inside the grounds of Stormont,
and live on
BBC One,
UTV,
RTÉ,
ITV News,
BBC News 24,
Sky News,
Sky Sports News,
EuroNews and
MUTV.
Afterward, Best was buried beside his mother Annie Elizabeth Kelly in a private
ceremony at the hill-top Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east Belfast.
Memorials
Belfast
City Airport was renamed
George Best Belfast City
Airport as a tribute to Best.[13]
The official new name and signage was unveiled to a gathering of the Best family
and friends at the airport on
22 May
2006 which
would have been his 60th birthday.
Public opinion in Northern Ireland about the renaming of the airport was
divided, with one poll showing only 52% in favour and 48% against.[14]
Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) deputy leader and
East Belfast
Member of Parliament
Peter Robinson,
in whose constituency Belfast City airport is situated, stated that his
preference was a sports stadium be named after Best.[15]
The move generated negative comments beyond Northern Ireland[16]
In
March 2006, airline
Flybe, named a
Dash 8 (Q400)
plane The George Best. The aircraft was later used to carry Best's family
across to the
Manchester
memorial service for Best.[17]
For
the first anniversary of his death,
Ulster Bank
issued one million commemorative five pound notes.[18]
The notes sold out in five days.[19]
The notes sold on the online auction site
eBay for up to
Ł30. |
