SCRAWNY BELFAST KID WHO LIT UP FOOTBALL & INSPIRED A MOVIE ON HIS COLOURFUL LIFE RISE FROM THE ASHES
SO, George, where did it all go wrong?
Sprawling on a bed scattered with £50 notes while quaffing champagne with Miss World, the question asked of George Best by an envious hotel bellboy is an amusing anecdote in an otherwise sorry tale of wasted talent and human tragedy.
Raised in Belfast’s Cregagh Estate, the gifted Best was born to play football.
It took Manchester United scout Bob Bishop all of five minutes to realise he had a mercurial talent on his hands – a magician with the ball at his feet, incredible balance and a strength that belied his slight frame.
An excited telegram fired off to Matt Busby encouraged the Red Devils to bring the scrawny 15-year-old ‘genius’ to Old Trafford.
Busby duly obliged and in 1961, Best packed a bag and boarded the ferry for England.
In two short years he would make his Manchester
United debut at 17 and before long made it impossible for the manager to leave him out of the team.
In 1964-65, Busby’s men won their first league title since the squad had been torn asunder by the Munich Air Disaster.
Best contributed 14 goals in 59 games and was fast becoming the darling of the Old Trafford faithful – despite playing in the same team as Bobby Charlton and Denis Law.
Another title was won in 1966-67, catapulting United into the European Cup which would hand Best the platform for what was almost certainly his finest hour in football.
The Belfast man’s goal helped United to a semi-final victory over
Real Madrid before Best scored again in the final at Wembley against
Benfica as the Red
Devils became the first English side to reel in Eu- ropean football’s biggest prize. The medal draped around his neck below the famous Twin Towers in North London, though, would be the last he would ever win at United.
On the international stage, Best made his senior debut in 1964 but over the next 13 years would play just 37 times for his country, scoring nine goals.
His time in a green and white shirt is perhaps best remembered for him cheekily heading the ball out of Gordon Banks’ hands – a disallowed goal against England that ultimately should have stood.
Off the pitch, Best’s battle with alcohol began to take a grip and his football was becoming a sad footnote in a career that was increasingly played out on the front pages rather than the back.
After his inevitable departure from United in 1974 at the age of just 27, Best effectively retired, becoming a hired gun for clubs that simply weren’t appropriate platforms for his talent.
In 1981, he stole money from a stranger’s handbag to buy alcohol and a stint in prison for drink driving followed in 1984.
The champagne bubbles had fizzed out and Best’s alcoholism had completely taken control.
His famous quote, ‘I spent most of my money on birds and booze, the rest I just wasted’ rang increasingly hollow. Best was desperate to conquer his demons but after a liver transplant in 2002, he finally lost his battle with alcoholism, dying of liver failure in 2005.
He achieved a lot and is one of the best footballers who ever lived, that much is inarguable.
Nevertheless, his story is still peppered by a litany of ‘what ifs’ on the pitch and a catalogue of regrets off it.
Amazon (DVD).
THE year 1957 was the darkest in Manchester United’s history.
Matt Busby’s ‘Babes’ were travelling home from their European Cup tie with Red Star Belgrade.
A stopover in Munich to refuel would lead to complete disaster – an anxious pilot, keen to keep his schedule, skidded the team’s plane off the end of an icy runway.
Seven United players lost their lives including young star Duncan Edwards (inset) and Tommy Taylor.
The accident sent shockwaves throughout world football and it would be another decade before Manchester United would fully recover.
The tragedy was brought to the big screen in the 2011 film ‘United’ with Dougray Scott portraying Matt Busby.
Amazon