home
Greenandwhitearmy.net
ulster-

IN APPRECIATION OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE BEST 22 MAY 1946 - 25 NOVEMBER 2005

Pele called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life.
George Best
George Best

George Best Tribute Video

I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep.
George Best provides some dark humour about his addiction.

 

 

I once said Gazza's IQ was less than his shirt number and he asked me: "What's an IQ?"
Best on Paul Gascoigne.

 

In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.
George Best - ever the joker.

 

I'd give all the Champagne I've ever drunk to be playing alongside him in a big European match at Old Trafford.
Eric Cantona impressed Best.

 

I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.
Best on cash.

 
best-770904

The closest I got to him was when we shook hands at the end of the game.
Northampton player Roy Fairfax, who had been marking Best when he scored six goals in an 8-2 FA Cup win for Man Utd in 1970.

 

That's what children do - throw food. That's not fighting. We were real men. We'd have chinned them.
Best gives his verdict on the infamous Battle of the Buffet between Manchester United and Arsenal.

 

He was able to use either foot - sometimes he seemed to have six.
Sir Matt Busby on Best.

He's been very, very lucky, an average player who came into the game when it was short of personalities.
Best on Kevin Keegan.

 

The only thing I have in common with George Best is that we come from the same place, play for the same club and were discovered by the same man
Norman Whiteside.

 
George Best Man Utd & Northern Ireland

So George, where did it all go wrong?
The hotel bellboy who delivered champagne to Best's room and found him entertaining a scantily-clad Miss World on a bed covered with his winnings from the casino.

 

I was in for 10 hours and had 40 pints - beating my previous record by 20 minutes.
Best on the blood transfusion after his liver transplant.

 

ON FAME: “I was probably the first footballer ever to have a pop star profile and my agent was right when he said we could put my name on stair rods and sell them to people in bungalows.”

 

ON HIS ENEMIES: “Even at the height of my fame, 50 per cent of the people who saw me wanted a fight — it’s the downside of being a star player.”

 

 

ON RETIRING YOUNG: “My one big regret is that I didn’t play on for 10 more years.”