When Calum Best stood outside London’s Cromwell Hospital on November 25, 2005 to announce the sad passing of his father it wasn’t just a deep personal tragedy for him and his family, it was also a huge loss to anyone who ever had the pleasure of seeing George Best play, as the life of one of the greatest football talents ever was so cruelly cut short.
"Not only have I lost my Dad... we've all lost a wonderful man," was how the son of the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland great broke the tragic news that afternoon after Best died, having been hospitalized for some eight weeks with liver failure, though for many there was a sad inevitability about what they were hearing that day.
Best’s battle with the booze was well documented and anyone who had seen him in his later years will remember a gaunt, frail looking man who was the shadow of the young superstar who burst onto the scene with United in the mid-1960s.
Born in Belfast on May 22, 1946, Best began his club career with Manchester United, with the scout who had spotted his talent at the age of 15 sending a telegram to then manager Matt Busby which read: "I think I've found you a genius.” After making his debut aged 17, he went on to score 179 goals in 470 appearances for the club over an 11 year period, finishing as the club's top goal scorer in the league for five consecutive seasons.
But it was in 1966 that Best really came to prominence with a dazzling display in United’s European Cup quarter-final away to Benfica. Scoring two goals and having a hand in just about everything else Best shone in the Stadium of Light as United romped to a 5-1 win. On arriving back in Manchester the next day he wore a huge sombrero and the press quickly dubbed him “El Beatle.”
Just when it seemed things couldn’t have got any better for this emerging superstar just two years later Best would experience surely the highlight of his career, this time in the final of the European Cup final at Wembley and once again facing the mighty Benfica; laying to rest the ghosts of Munich some 10 years before as United triumphed 4-1 to become Champions of Europe with Best scoring the third goal.
In truth, that night was about as good as it got for Best and United. In the years that followed his showbiz lifestyle and erratic behaviour stifled what surely would have been the peak years of his career and, at the age of just 26, Best quit the club as United struggled following the departure of the enigmatic Matt Busby.
Best’s situation wasn’t helped by his constant dalliances with the drink as a well-documented alcohol addiction plagued him for much of his life, but to football fans that could never take the shine off a player who, to this day, those that saw him play still claim was the greatest ever.
Probably the biggest disappointment for Best would be his frustrating international career for a Northern Ireland team who struggled to make a name for themselves in major tournaments in the 1960s and ‘70s; even so, he still posted some pretty impressive numbers. Best was capped 37 times for Northern Ireland, scoring nine goals.
In the years following his departure from United Best plied his trade at a number of clubs, including Fulham, Hibernian and Bournemouth, while also starring in the States as part of the newly formed North American Soccer League with Los Angeles Aztecs, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and later San Jose Earthquakes; revelling in the freedom he was given in the fledgling setup playing with some of the games former greats.
After his playing days were over Best took on a number of media roles, most famously joining Sky’s Soccer Saturday panel in its early days where he rekindled his long-term friendship with former Fulham colleague Rodney Marsh, but in later years his media commitments were few and far between as his health continued to decline.
He was admitted into hospital for the final time with flu-like symptoms in October 2005 but his situation rapidly became more serious and on November 20, the News of the World published a picture of Best in his hospital bed yellow with jaundice, along with a warning about the dangers of alcohol with the message: "Don't die like me."
Just five days later Best had indeed succumbed to multiple organ failure with the mass outpouring of grief around the world showing just how much affection the public held for a man who most of them had never met.
Leaders from all sides of the political divide were quick to pay their tributes along with some of the game’s biggest names. Diego Maradona said of George: "He inspired me when I was young. He was flamboyant and exciting and able to inspire his teammates.” While on hearing of his passing fellow Manchester United legend Eric Cantona announced: "I would love him to save me a place in his team, George Best that is, not God."
Best’s ashes were interred beside his mother Annie in a private ceremony on December 3, 2005 as thousands of people lined the route of the funeral procession; but along with the sadness there was also joy as many people preferred to remember the swashbuckling and loveable genius whose life was so well summed up in his now famous quote: “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”
