The Complete George Best

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Item s unavailable for purchase. Please review your cart. You can remove the unavailable item s now or we'll automatically remove it at Checkout. Continue shopping Checkout Continue shopping. Over the next decade he went into an increasingly rapid decline, drifting between several clubs, including spells in South Africa, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Scotland, and Australia. Playing only five competitive matches for Jewish Guild in South Africa, Best endured criticism for missing several training sessions. During his short time there, he was the main draw attracting thousands of spectators to the matches.

Best had a brief spell at Cork Celtic in December and January He played only three league games, the others against Bohemians and Shelbourne , but despite attracting big crowds he failed to score or impress. Being on a rolling contract with Cork his failure to show for a game saw him being dropped and subsequently leaving the club. He had a brief resurgence in form with Second Division club Fulham in —77 , showing that, although he had lost some of his pace, he retained his skills. His time with the "Cottagers" is particularly remembered for a match against Hereford United on 25 September in which he jokingly tackled his own teammate, and old drinking mate, Rodney Marsh.

Best played for three clubs in the United States: Best was a success on the field, scoring 15 goals in 24 games in his first season with the Aztecs and named as the NASL's best midfielder in his second. Best caused a stir when he returned to the UK to play for the Scottish club Hibernian. In August , he played 20 minutes for Scone Thistle against Scone Amateurs; the appearance fee he received helped to pay off an income tax bill. He returned to the US to play for the San Jose Earthquakes in what was officially described as a "loan", though he only managed a handful of appearances for Hibs in the First Division in the following season.

His moves to Fort Lauderdale and San Jose were also unhappy, as his off-field demons began to take control of his life again. After failing to agree terms with Bolton Wanderers in , he was invited as a guest player and played three matches for two Hong Kong First Division teams Sea Bee and Rangers in While in Hong Kong, Best also played darts for a team called Presstuds, made up of a combination of professional footballers and sports journalists. In late , Bournemouth manager Don Megson signed the year-old Best for the Third Division side, and he remained there until the end of the —83 season, when he retired from football at the age of Best played in a friendly for Newry Town against Shamrock Rovers in August , [76] before ending his professional career exactly 20 years after joining Manchester United with a brief four-match stint playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian National Soccer League during the season.

On 8 August , a testimonial match was held for Best at Windsor Park.

Best scored twice, one goal from outside the box, the other from the penalty spot. Best was capped 37 times for Northern Ireland , scoring nine goals.

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Of his nine international goals four were scored against Cyprus and one each against Albania , England , Scotland , Switzerland and Turkey. Best continued to be selected for Northern Ireland throughout the s, despite his fluctuating form and off pitch problems. Dutch captain Johan Cruyff commented: Best was considered briefly by manager Billy Bingham for the World Cup , but at the age of 35, with his football skills dulled by age and drink and five years having passed since his last cap , he was not selected for the Northern Ireland squad.

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A proponent of a United Ireland football team, in Best stated: I still hope that in my lifetime it happens. A highly skilful winger, considered by several pundits to be one of the greatest dribblers in the history of the sport, Best received plaudits for his playing style, which combined pace, skill, balance, feints , two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to get past defenders. He could do almost anything — technically, speed, complete mastery of not only the ball but his own body.

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Heading ability, passing ability, I mean it goes without saying the dribbling — he could beat anybody in any way he chose. Although Best was mostly renowned for his dribbling skills, he has also drew praise for his ability as a creator; in regard to this ability, Tony Dove commented: His brilliance was simply dazzling — player after player from the New Zealand national team queued up to try to tackle him and he gave them all dancing lessons.

I clearly remember one run, starting almost from the goal-line, from a roll-out by Stepney, when he evaded every player in the NZ team, one after the other, until he reached the opposite end of the pitch and produced a perfectly floated centre for Charlton's head.

George Best - Wikipedia

His grace, agility and ball skills were only eclipsed by his unselfish passing — many love to remark on his goal scoring but he was prodigious as the set-up man. On the field you couldn't ask for a better football role-model. Let the man pass with what dignity remains to him. Remember him at his best. In an interview Alex Stepney said that Best would knock the ball on to the goalkeeper's shin, who would be rushing towards this feet to close down the angle, and the ball would bounce back to him and he would score.

No one has been able to emulate that in football. Not only did he do it in training but he did it against Manchester United's arch rivals Liverpool at Anfield. During his early years at Old Trafford , Best was a shy teenager who passed his free time in snooker halls. He opened a nightclub called Slack Alice on Bootle Street in Manchester in and owned restaurants in the city including Oscars , on the site of the old Waldorf Hotel. Best's cousin Gary Reid, a member of the Ulster Defence Association , was killed in during an episode of serious rioting in east Belfast. Their son, Calum , was born in , but they separated the following year and divorced in In she alleged that Best was violent towards her during their marriage, an issue that was covered in Best's authorised biography " Bestie " in which Alex claimed that Best punched her in the face on more than one occasion.

At the peak of his career in the late s and early s, Best advertised Cookstown sausages on television with the phrase "the Best family sausages". Best had a cameo as himself in the British comedy film Percy. In , GQ magazine named him as one of the 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years. He lost almost all of it. When asked what happened to the money he had earned, Best quipped: The rest I just squandered.

Best suffered from alcoholism for most of his adult life, leading to numerous controversies and, eventually, his death. In , Best received a three-month prison sentence for drink driving , assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail. He spent Christmas of behind bars at Ford Open Prison. Contrary to popular belief and urban legend he never played football for the prison team. In September , Best appeared on the primetime BBC chat show Wogan in which he was heavily drunk and swore, at one point saying to the host, "Terry, I like screwing".



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Best was diagnosed with severe liver damage in March Best continued to drink, and was sometimes seen at his local pub in Surbiton , London. On 3 October , he was admitted to intensive care at the private Cromwell Hospital in London, suffering from a kidney infection caused by the side effects of immuno-suppressive drugs used to prevent his body from rejecting his transplanted liver.

Close friends in the game visited his bedside to make their farewells, including Rodney Marsh , and the two other members of the "United Trinity", Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. He was flamboyant and exciting and able to inspire his teammates. I actually think we were very similar players — dribblers who were able to create moments of magic. The Premier League announced that a minute's silence would be observed before all Premier League games to be held over the weekend of his death; however at many grounds a minute's applause broke out in his honour.

Best's son Calum and former teammates, surviving members from the West Brom 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 in every seat held aloft pictures of Best, which were given out before the match. His body left the family home at Cregagh Road, East Belfast , shortly after The cortege then travelled the short distance to Stormont.

The route was lined with around , mourners.

George Best

As the cortege left Stormont, the Gilnahirk pipe band played. The funeral was live on several television stations including BBC One. Afterward, Best was cremated, and his ashes were interred beside his mother Annie Elizabeth Kelly in a private ceremony at the hill-top Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east Belfast. The aircraft was later used to carry Best's family across to the Manchester memorial service for Best.

A strictly limited edition of 68 eggs were produced, with all profits from the sale of the eggs going to the George Best Foundation, which promotes health through sport and supports people with alcohol and drug problems. For the first anniversary of his death, Ulster Bank issued one million commemorative five pound notes. By the money had still not been raised until a local developer, Doug Elliott, announced on 29 January , that he would put up the rest of the money and would manage delivery of the project.

In it was announced that a new film about the life of George Best was being worked on, directed by John-Paul Davidson. The film will be released in with the premiere taking place in London. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see George Best disambiguation. This article's lead section may be too long for the length of the article. Please help by moving some material from it into the body of the article.

Please read the layout guide and lead section guidelines to ensure the section will still be inclusive of all essential details. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. Best with Northern Ireland in All manner of men have tried to intimidate him.



Best merely glides along, riding tackles and brushing giants aside like leaves. 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. In I gave up women and alcohol—it was the worst 20 minutes of my life. Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town. The bewildering repertoire of feints and swerves Retrieved 22 April Retrieved 12 October Retrieved 11 May Decline of the golden boy".

Retrieved 26 October Retrieved 5 March Retrieved 10 February Retrieved 9 October Archived from the original on 7 November Retrieved 30 December Retrieved 17 May Sports Illustrated South Africa.