George Best

opular opinion has it that the world's greatest footballer ever was the Brazilian legend, Pelé. Pelé himself, however, never had any doubts who deserved that particular honour: Belfast boy Georgie Best. Best was, by any standards, almost unbelievably talented, but as with so many Saints of the Church, he preferred a good drink to the sweating exertion of his profession...

His career tailed off in the 1970's, as he was more likely to be found in a pub or a nightclub than on the playing field, devoting his time to a string of "Miss World" conquests and a raging thirst.

As one bit of apocrypha has it, a bellhop wandered into Best's Spanish resort hotel suite, where the erstwhile genius was cavorting on the bed with two lovely young admirers, champagne at the ready and a night's winnings from the casino strewn across the room. The bellhop, it is said, asked Best, "But Georgie, where did it all go wrong?" Best is reputed to have gestured around the room and replied ironically, "You tell me, son."
(James Walker)

Innumerable alcohol-fuelled escapades have followed over the course of the last 25 years, including the episode where he assaulted a police officer while raving drunk and ended up serving a prison sentence. In the spring of 2000 he once again hit the headlines after being admitted to hospital with (as the English gutter press would have it) a terminal alcohol-related liver condition. Apparently Georgie is not quite ready to join Oliver Reed and the other departed Saints of the Holy Church just yet, for he emerged from "death's clutches" once more and returned home. No doubt it will not be long before Saint George once again provides the newspapers with frontpage headlines...

George Best Website

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