We don’t call him “the 5th Beatles” for nothing. George Best was Manchester United’s flamboyant striker from 1963 to 1974. The Belfast native was crowned English champion twice with the Red Devils and lifted the Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1968, scoring the first goal in extra time against Benfica. Enough to crown him Ballon d’Or at the age of 22. Sparkling on the muddy pitches of the First Division, the Northern Irishman led a crazy life which made him a staple of the tabloids.
It’s simple, George Best was the Kingdom’s first star footballer. Across the Channel, there was a before and after Best. For better and for worse. He died on November 25, 2005, at the age of only 59. And, 20 years later, Northern Ireland has already begun to commemorate the disappearance of this football emblem.
“I spent a lot of money on drinking, girls and sports cars. And the rest I wasted”this is the most famous declaration of this incredible high roller. Without a ball at his feet, George Best, a drink in his hand, twirled around nightclubs and casinos until the early hours, when he didn’t dive straight into the beds of his thousands of admirers. Legend has it that he conquered four Miss Worlds. And that he forgot his Ballon d’Or in the room of one of his conquests!
Ballon d’Or 68 attacks a police officer
Unsurprisingly, George Best ended badly. The former number 7 of Man United – who gave the legend of this number to Old Trafford, perpetuated by Eric Cantona – relaunched in the United States, at the Los Angeles Aztecs from 1976 to 1978, before sinking on his return to the United Kingdom (Fulham, Hibernian, Bournemouth). Ruined, he was declared bankrupt in 1982 and sold his jerseys and his Ballon d’Or, as recounted in a portrait by Vincent Duluc in The Team (who dedicated a book to him in 2014).
In 1984, a traffic stop turned into an altercation. He was sentenced to three months in prison for drunken driving and violence against a police officer. He spends Christmas behind bars, where he receives 3,000 Christmas cards! Contrary to what urban legend says, he never played for the prison team. He was diagnosed with serious liver disease in 2002 (it only functions at 20%). A transplant saved him but George Best was punished again for drunk driving in 2004. A year before his death.
