George Best observations

Written September 2005 during my degree studies. Best died not long after this was written.

When the greatest football players of all time are discussed, one name is almost a certainty to be mentioned. But “The thing that gets to George Best is being compared to someone like Paul Gascoigne-yes, both were great players and drink featured, but George achieved so much during such a short time”, says Justin Barnes, former editor of Manchester United magazine.

With a host of domestic and European honours, indisputable talent and playing for a football club recognised worldwide, Best seemed to have everything he could have dreamed of.

But the pressures of this high-profile lifestyle, eventually leading to alcoholism, a failed marriage and a career felt by many cut drastically short, the debate still rages today-Is he the greatest player ever or simply a victim of his own success?

Those closest to him have mixed opinions on this. Barnes, now assisting Best writing his monthly column in United Magazine, admits he “wasn’t sure what to expect”.

“Everybody’s heard the stories of his drinking”, he says. “When I was told the meeting was to be at his old haunting place at The Kings’ Arms near Chelsea, I just thought ‘God, get me out of this!’”.

And he’s not alone. Some groups criticised Best’s treatment for a damaged liver in February 2000, arguing he used his celebrity status to receive immediate treatment. Look deeper however, he argues, and you see a very different picture.

“”I often find footballers to be dull, there’s never much warmth”, he adds. “With George, it’s a totally different story. He’s so refreshing to talk to”.

Many of Best’s closest friends stress his friendliness and willingness to talk openly. Barnes says “He’s very charming, always stopping to have a chat and catch with you. It seems as though whenever you need him, no matter how busy he is, he’ll talk”. If you can latch one sole praise upon Best, it’s without question his honesty. As Michael Parkinson said commenting on Best’s recent autobiography, ‘blessed’, Best’s personality is such now that he will “face his demons”.

Born in Belfast on 22nd May 1946, being amongst an elite seems to run in the family; his father a worker at Harland and Wolff’s ship yard, at the time widely recognised amongst the world and his mother a production worker at a tobacco firm and a gifted hockey player.

“Literally as soon as I could walk”, he says, “I had a ball at my feet…it didn’t really matter to me what sort of ball it was”. He lived-and slept for football, sometimes taking a ball to bed at night.

For his admirers, Best was everything on the pitch, like the ruthless of headmasters, shaming the ‘pupils’ and often receiving a bruising for his efforts. Dodging, weaving, and twisting his way past an appearing insurmountable mountain of players with ease. For them, he was their superman, “the most perfectly balanced player I’ve ever seen”, says David Meek, a Manchester Evening News soccer correspondent for forty years. Yet in his early years, Best’s famed feet weren’t so agile.

Starting his playing days at Cregagh Boys Club, his coach Bud McFarlane told him “You might make it”, providing he improved his left foot technique. Practicing for days upon end, determined to prove his worth, Best went on to score twelve left footed goals in their next game, a 21-0 victory.

Continuing to set the standards both domestically and abroad during his time at Manchester United, he finished top scorer in the league for five of his ten seasons at the club. This, claims Barnes, was “all the more incredible when you consider he didn’t even play centre forward as a regular. Much of his games were played on the wing!” But while the honours, including a European Footballer of the Year award, were mounting, so too were his problems-and at an even rapider rate.

For Best was drinking at a self-destructive rate. “I never needed an excuse”, he claimed, “I just drank”. And while he began this path, others around him, including ex Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty, became increasingly alarmed. “He was such a great player that he could get away with almost anything and that was a mistake”. A ticking time bomb inevitably waiting to explode, his wife Angie left him in 1986.

It was just one of the many difficulties Best faced. His 2000 film biography, ‘Best’, described by one film critic as “doomed from start to finish”, took little income from box offices or indeed its small screen release. This could have done little to help his financial situation, declared bankrupt at one stage in the 1980s.

And while his finances were in a downward spiral, his career was faring little better. Leaving Manchester United in the 1970s, he later played in the USA, but retired at the age of 27. His ability though, as former team-mate Paddy Crerand claims, was such that “he could have gone on til he was 35”.

His health was seemingly in a downward spiral shortly afterwards. Barnes admits he was “deeply concerned” at this point. He wasn’t the only one.

Also working as a football analyst on Sky’s ‘Soccer Saturday’, ex-Fulham colleague Rodney Marsh said he was “praying for a swift recovery”. More worryingly, Best, known for his fighting spirit on the pitch, helping United claim an extra-time victory over Benfica in 1968, was more fragile than ever. His weight in hospital had dropped
“at least two stone”, recalls Barnes.


But Best was to return, determined to fight back. Now married again, this time to Alex.. Although in her thirties, and “you could take a cynical view from that”, says Barnes, “they’re deeply in love”. Any doubters may be interested in read her personal webpage.

Tributes have been in their masses. When Maradonna, to some the greatest player ever, describes you as “without doubt the greatest ever”, Best’s problems seem irrelevant when his ability is considered.

Certainly Shoot readers felt so in 1999. Ignoring other contenders including Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan and Eric Cantons, Best was named the greatest player to have played in England. But the world?

“Maybe a little too strong”, feels Barnes, “though I guess it depends on your era-if you saw him during the time you’d probably say yes. Kids today might say Owen, Beckham, Shearer….but George was incredible”.

Although no longer a regular on Soccer Saturday, Best now writes a column for the Mail On Sunday in addition to commentary and, charity work. His compassion beams so warmly. Current Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson sums up Best in a nutshell-“He had all the attributes. It’s so tragic circumstances led to such a tragic retirement…he’s a nice lad. A genius”.