I like soccer, always have. Played it, coached it, managed it, watched it.
All levels (kids thru adults, men, women)
Even got to ref a game when the refs did not show and both managers knew me and felt I could do the job fairly. That was a trip. One coach was a former pro with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. And the kids were young, so not much at stake.
Several different states (MO, NY, FL)
So each week I check out the Fox Soccer network and ESPN schedule for showing soccer. mostly the EPL [for those not in the know, that is the English Premier League]
There are a number of top flight leagues in the world, and EPL is surely one of them.
Since the sixties, back when a fellow named George Best played for Manchester United, I have had a special place for them, mostly because of George, but they were decent enough themselves. Well they progressed over the years to become an iconic team, annually challenging for just about every trophy available for a top flight club team in Europe.
So here it is 2012, and I find my team struggling a bit they came in second last year to cross town rivals Manchester City, which was doubly hurtful.
This past week, a lower seeded team was hosting the Man Utd club and most everyone still expected the REDS to come away with an easy victory as they have so many times before.
Late, and I mean late it was Southhampton 2 Man Utd 1. I was about to turn it off with about three minutes left in regulation. A penalty kick was missed by Man Utd and it seemed hopeless. But I stuck it out. And my faith was rewarded. A new signing Van Persie who had scored the lone goal, but was also the person who missed the penalty, scored at the 87 minute mark and again at the 90 minute mark to seal the victory.
George Best: one of those supreme talents in life, who played with finesse and flair but lived as hard as he played. One of the more amazing stories about him was that he dribbled the ball nearly the length of the field [over 100 yards in length on most pitches] and supposedly he did so keeping the ball in the air the entire way. I did not see it, but remember reading an article about it... His photo was in a publication and I used it as my starting point. I had to draw the image without tracing it...that was tough enough...then it was oil paint, and a couple of backgrounds later and several tubes of paint...yes that stuff was expensive and I got stern looks from the teacher....but I was in Art class and this was to be used as my semester project and painted George to the best of my ability as my oil painting project. I still have it...and that was back in the early 70's. It may not be a Picasso or Rembrandt, but it is mine ...from my own hands and I remember the fellow named George Best as if it were yesterday.
George Best is my artist of choice at this moment.An artist with a soccer ball at his feet.
Wikipedia has its usual recap on the topic:
George Best
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a
Northern Irish professional
footballer who played as a
winger for
Manchester United and the
Northern Ireland national team. In 1968 he won the
European Cup with United, and was named the
European Footballer of the Year and
Football Writers' Association Player of the Year. He is described by the national team's governing body, the
Irish Football Association, as the "greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland".
[1]
Born and raised in
Belfast, Northern Ireland, Best began his club career in
England
with Manchester United, who had spotted his talent at the age of 15. He
went on to see success with United scoring 179 goals from 470
appearances over 11 years. His playing style combined pace,
acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to
beat defenders.
[2]
Best unexpectedly quit United relatively early in 1974 at age 27, but
returned to football for a number of clubs around the world in short
spells, until finally retiring in 1983, age 37. In international
football, he was an automatic choice when fit, being
capped
37 times and scoring nine goals from 1964 to 1977, although the team's
performance never allowed his talent to be displayed in the finals of a
European Championship or
World Cup.
Such was Best's talent and charisma that he became one of the first
celebrity footballers, but his subsequent extravagant lifestyle led to
various problems, most notably
alcoholism
which he suffered from for the rest of his adult life. These problems
affected him on and off the field throughout his career, at times
causing controversy.
[3] He often said of his career that "I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted".
[4] After football he spent some time as a pundit, but his financial and health problems continued into his retirement.
[3] He died in 2005 age 59, due to complications from the
immunosuppressant drugs he needed to take after being controversially granted an
NHS liver transplant in 2002.
[5][6] Best was married twice, to two former models,
Angie Best and then
Alex Best. His son
Calum Best was born in 1981 from his first marriage.
Prior to his death, Best was voted 16th in the
IFFHS World Player of the Century election in 1999 and was one of the inaugural 22 inductees into the
English Football Hall of Fame in 2002; in 2004 he was also voted 19th in the public
UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll and named by
Pelé as one of the
125 best living footballers in the world.
[7] After his death, on what would have been his 60th birthday, Belfast City Airport was renamed the
George Best Belfast City Airport as a "fitting and permanent tribute to his footballing brilliance." According to the
BBC, Best was remembered by mourners at his public funeral held in Belfast as "the beautiful boy" [with a] "beautiful game".
[8] A common description of his place in football history is summed up by the quote "
Maradona good;
Pele better; George Best."
[9]
Early years and family
The Cregagh Estate honoured George Best by unveiling a mural on what would have been his 60th birthday.
George Best was the first child of Dickie Best (1919–2008) and Anne Best (née Withers) (1922–1978), and grew up in
Cregagh,
Belfast. He was brought up in the
Free Presbyterian faith.
[10] Dickie Best was a member of the
Orange Order
and the young George Best carried the strings of the banner in his
local Cregagh lodge. In his autobiography, Best mentioned how important
the order was to his family.
[11]
Best had four sisters, Carol, Barbara, Julie and Grace, and a brother,
Ian. Best's father Dickie died on 16 April 2008, at the age of 88, in
the
Ulster Hospital in
Dundonald,
Northern Ireland. He had been admitted to hospital four weeks earlier.
[12] Best's mother Anne died from alcoholism-related
heart disease[13] in 1978, aged 55.
In 1957, at the age of 11, the academically gifted Best passed the 11 plus and went to
Grosvenor High School, but he soon played truant as the school specialised in
rugby.
Best then moved to Lisnasharragh Secondary School, reuniting him with
friends from primary school and allowing him to focus on football.
Club career
Manchester United (1963–1974)
At the age of 15, Best was discovered in
Belfast by
Manchester United scout Bob Bishop, whose telegram to United manager
Matt Busby read: "
I think I've found you a genius."
[14][15] His local club
Glentoran had previously rejected him for being "too small and light".
[16] Best was subsequently given a trial and signed up by chief scout
Joe Armstrong.
His first time moving to the club, Best quickly became homesick and
stayed for only two days before going back home to Northern Ireland.
[17]
Best made his
Manchester United debut, aged 17, on 14 September 1963 against
West Bromwich Albion at
Old Trafford
in a 1–0 victory. He was too young to contend for a first-team place
for much of the first half of the season. His second appearance came on
28 December against
Burnley. This
First Division match saw Best's first goal for United in a 5–1 win. Matt Busby used Best much more after the
New Year
and by the end of the season, Best had made 26 appearances, scoring six
goals. Manchester United finished second, four points behind
Liverpool.
In his
second season, Best and Manchester United claimed the
league title.
Best hit the headlines at the age of twenty when he scored two goals in a
European Cup quarter-final match against
Benfica in 1966. The Portuguese media dubbed him "O Quinto
Beatle", "the
fifth Beatle" in
English.
His talent and showmanship made him a crowd and media favourite. Known
for his long hair, good looks and extravagant celebrity lifestyle, Best
appeared on
Top of the Pops in 1965.
[18] Other nicknames included the "Belfast Boy" and he was often referred to as
Georgie, or
Geordie in his native Belfast.
[19]
The 1966–67 season was again successful, as Manchester United claimed
the league title by four points. The following season, Best became a
European Cup winner after scoring in the final against Benfica. United won 4–1 and Best was later crowned
European Footballer of the Year and
Football Writers' Association Player of the Year. After this, his steady decline began.
Best opened two nightclubs in
Manchester, in the late 1960s,
Oscar's and the other called
Slack Alice's (which later became
42nd Street Nightclub). He also owned fashion boutiques, in partnership with
Mike Summerbee of
Manchester City. He developed problems with
gambling,
womanising and alcoholism.
Best played at United when shirt numbers were assigned to positions,
in the traditional English way, and not the player. When Best played at
right wing, as he famously did during the later stages of the 1966 and
1968 European Cups, he donned the number 7. As a left winger, where he
played exclusively in his debut season and nearly all of the 1971–72, he
wore the number 11. Best wore the number 8 shirt at inside right on
occasion throughout the 1960s, but for more than half of his matches
during 1970–71. He was playing at inside left (wearing the number 10) in
1972 when he famously walked out on United the first time but was back
in the number 11 for the autumn of 1973 before leaving for good. Best
even wore the number 9 jersey once for United, with
Bobby Charlton injured, on 22 March 1969 at Old Trafford, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win over
Sheffield Wednesday.
[20]
In 1974, aged 27, Best quit United for good. His last competitive game for the club was on 1 January 1974 against
Queens Park Rangers at
Loftus Road, which United lost 3-0.
[21]
In total Best made 470 appearances for Manchester United in all
competitions from 1963 to 1974, and scored 179 goals (including six in
one game against fourth division
Northampton Town – an extraordinary feat that in 2002 the British public voted #26 in the list of the
100 Greatest Sporting Moments).
[22]The last of his goals for United was in a 3-2 home league defeat to
Coventry City on 15 December 1973.
[23]He
was the club's top scorer for six consecutive seasons, and was the
First Division's top scorer in the 1967–68 season. Over the next decade
he went into an increasingly rapid decline, drifting between several
clubs, including spells in South Africa, Ireland, United States,
Scotland, and Australia.
Jewish Guild (1974)
Playing only five competitive matches for
Jewish Guild
in South Africa, Best endured criticism for missing several training
sessions. During his short time there, he was the main draw attracting
thousands of spectators to the matches.
[24]
Cork Celtic (1975)
Best had a brief spell at
Cork Celtic in December 1975 and January 1976. He made his
League of Ireland debut against
Drogheda United at
Flower Lodge on 28 December. He played only three league games, the others against
Bohemians and
Shelbourne,
but despite attracting big crowds he failed to score or impress. Being
on a rolling contract with Cork his failure to show for a game saw him
being dropped and subsequently leaving the club.
[25]
Fulham (1976–1977)
Best had a brief resurgence in form with
Fulham
in 1976–77, showing that, although he had lost some of his pace, he
retained his skills. His time with the Cottagers is particularly
remembered for a second division match against
Hereford United on 25 September 1976 in which he tackled his own teammate, and old drinking mate,
Rodney Marsh. Best stated later in life that he enjoyed his time most while at Fulham, despite not winning any honours.
United States (1976–1981)
Best played for three clubs in the United States:
Los Angeles Aztecs,
Fort Lauderdale Strikers and later
San Jose Earthquakes; he also played for the
Detroit Express
on a European tour. Best revelled in the anonymity the United States
afforded him after England and was a success on the field, too, scoring
15 goals in 24 games in his first season with the Aztecs and named as
the NASL's best midfielder in his second.
[26]
He and manager Ken Adam opened "Bestie's Beach Club" (now called "The
Underground" after the London subway system) in Hermosa Beach,
California in the 1970s, and continued to operate it until the 1990s.
Hibernian (1979–1981)
Best caused a stir when he returned to the UK to play for the Scottish club
Hibernian.
[27] Hibs, who were suffering a decline in fortunes and were heading for
relegation from the
Premier Division,
[27] signed Best on a "pay per play" basis after the club chairman, Tom Hart, received a tip-off from an
Edinburgh Evening News reporter that he was available.
[27][28]
Even though Best failed to save Hibs from relegation, gates increased
dramatically, as Hibs' attendance quadrupled for his first match at
Easter Road.
[27] One infamous incident saw Best initially sacked by Hibs after he went on a massive drinking session with the
French rugby team, who were in
Edinburgh to play
Scotland.
[28] He was brought back a week later.
Best returned to the USA to play for San Jose Earthquakes in what was
officially described as a "loan", though he only managed a handful of
appearances for Hibs in the
First Division in the
following season.
[28] He returned one last time to Easter Road in 1984, for
Jackie McNamara's testimonial match against
Newcastle.
[27]
In his third season in the States, Best scored only once in 12
appearances. His moves to Fort Lauderdale and San Jose were also
unhappy, as his off-field demons began to take control of his life
again. After failing to agree terms with
Bolton Wanderers in 1981, he was invited as a guest player and played three matches for two
Hong Kong First Division teams (
Sea Bee and
Rangers) in 1982.
[29]
Bournemouth (1982–1983)
In late 1982,
Bournemouth manager
Don Megson signed the 36-year-old Best for the
Football League Third Division
side, and he remained there until the end of the season, when he
finally retired from football at the age of 37. The following season
Malcolm Allison apparently persuaded him to sign for
Middlesbrough but he never made a League appearance for them.
[citation needed]
Brisbane Lions (1983)
Best played in a friendly for
Newry Town against
Shamrock Rovers in August 1983
[30]
before ending his professional career exactly 20 years after joining
Manchester United with a brief four-match stint playing for the
Brisbane Lions in the
Australian National Soccer League during the 1983 season.
[31]
He also was a guest player for an exhibition match between Dee Why
Football Club and Manly Warringah held on 27 July 1983. Dee Why won the
match 2-1, with Best having scored the winning goal.
[32][33]
Testimonial (1988)
On 8 August 1988, a testimonial match was held for Best at
Windsor Park. Among the crowd were
Sir Matt Busby and Bob Bishop, the scout who discovered Best, while those playing included
Ossie Ardiles,
Pat Jennings and
Liam Brady. Best scored twice, one goal from outside the box, the other from the penalty spot.
International career
He was
capped 37 times for
Northern Ireland, scoring nine goals. Of his nine international goals four were scored against
Cyprus and one each against
Albania,
England,
Scotland,
Switzerland and
Turkey.
On 15 May 1971, Best scored possibly the most famous "goal" of his career at
Windsor Park in Belfast against
England.
[34] As
Gordon Banks,
the English goalkeeper, released the ball in the air in order to kick
the ball downfield, Best managed to kick the ball first, which sent the
ball high over their heads and heading towards the open goal.
[34] Best outpaced Banks and headed the ball into the empty goal, but the goal was disallowed by referee Alistair Mackenzie.
[34]
Best continued to be selected for Northern Ireland throughout the
1970s, despite his fluctuating form and off pitch problems. There were
still glimpses of his genius; in 1976, Northern Ireland were drawn
against
the Netherlands in
Rotterdam as one of their
1978 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. The Netherlands, who were runners-up in the
1974 and
1978 World Cups, and their star player,
Johan Cruyff,
were at their peak at the time. Five minutes into the game Best
received the ball wide on the left. Instead of heading towards goal he
turned directly infield, weaved his way past at least three Dutchmen and
found his way to Cruyff who was wide right. Best took the ball to his
opponent, dipped a shoulder twice and slipped it between Cruyff's feet –
nutmegging arguably the best player in the world at that time.
[35]
Best was considered briefly by manager
Billy Bingham for the
1982 World Cup, but at the age of 36 and his football skills dulled by age and drink, he was not selected in the Northern Ireland squad.
International goals
Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.
| [show]George Best – goals for Northern Ireland |
Career statistics
[31]
1Includes other competitive competitions, including Charity Shield, Watney Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
2Includes one NASL Play-off match.
3Includes five NASL Play-off matches where he scored two goals.
[36]
| Northern Ireland national team |
| Year |
Apps |
Goals |
| 1964 |
6 |
2 |
| 1965 |
6 |
1 |
| 1966 |
1 |
0 |
| 1967 |
1 |
0 |
| 1968 |
1 |
1 |
| 1969 |
4 |
0 |
| 1970 |
4 |
1 |
| 1971 |
6 |
4 |
| 1972 |
2 |
0 |
| 1973 |
1 |
0 |
| 1974 |
0 |
0 |
| 1975 |
0 |
0 |
| 1976 |
2 |
0 |
| 1977 |
3 |
0 |
| Total |
37 |
9 |
Career honours
Club
- Manchester United
Individual
In the late 1980s, Best narrated
Streaker, a
documentary on the
streaking phenomenon, discussing the careers of people such as
Erica Roe and
Sheila Nicholls.
In 1998, Best became a football pundit on the
Sky Sports live show
Soccer Saturday. His last appearance on the show was in 2004.
In November 2004, 58-year-old Best agreed to join
Premier League club
Portsmouth as a youth coach, citing his desire to get involved in football again.
Personal life
Best was married twice, first to
Angela MacDonald-Janes. They married on 24 January 1978 at
Candlelight Wedding Chapel in
Las Vegas, having met in the
States when Best was playing for the Los Angeles Aztecs. Their son
Calum was born in 1981 but they separated the following year and
divorced in 1986.
[37]
He married
Alex Pursey in 1995 in
Kensington and Chelsea, London.
[38] They divorced in 2004; they had no children. He is reported to have had two daughters by other women.
[39] His niece by marriage is actress
Samantha Janus, who is the daughter of Angie MacDonald-Janes' brother.
[40]
In 2004, his second wife
Alex Best appeared as a contestant on the reality television programme
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and alleged that Best was
violent towards her during their marriage.
[41][citation needed] This issue was, in fact, covered in Best's authorised 1998
biography "
Bestie" in which Alex claimed that Best punched her in the face on more than one occasion,
[42]
something which Best never denied. Earlier in the book it is revealed
that George struck another of his girlfriends, Mary, at least once and
was arrested and charged with
assault on a waitress, Stevie Sloniecka, in November 1972, when he fractured her nose in Reuben's nightclub, Manchester.
[42] He was successfully defended when the case reached court in January 1973 by barrister
George Carman QC, a close drinking companion of Best, as acknowledged in his book,
Scoring at Half Time.
Frank Evans, a former business partner of Best, claimed in his 2009 book,
The Last British Bullfighter,
that Carman offered a Manchester gangster "pots of cash" in 1973 to
break Best's legs when he discovered that Best had been having an affair
with his second wife, Celia. Carman's offer was rejected with the
following warning by the gangster: "I don't sort out domestic disputes
and I'm not going to harm George [Best]. So you can take your money and
go somewhere else. But I'll tell you this – if any harm comes to George
I'll know who did it and I'll come after you."
[43]
Alcoholism
Best suffered from alcoholism for most of his adult life, leading to numerous controversies and, eventually, his death.
[6]
In 1981, while playing in the United States, Best stole money from
the handbag of a woman he did not know in order to fund a drinking
session. "We were sitting in a bar on the beach, and when she got up to
go to the toilet I leaned over and took all the money she had in her
bag."
[42]
In 1984, Best received a three-month prison sentence for
drunk driving, assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail. He spent
Christmas of 1984 behind bars and turned out as a player for
Ford Open Prison.
In September 1990, Best appeared on an edition of primetime
BBC chat show
Wogan in which he was heavily drunk and swore, at one point saying to the host, "Terry, I like screwing".
[44] He later apologised and said this was one of the worst episodes of his alcoholism.
Best was diagnosed with severe liver damage in March 2000.
[5] In August 2002, he had a successful
liver transplant at King's College Hospital in London.
[5] The transplant was performed at public expense on the
NHS, a decision which was controversial due to Best's alcoholism.
[45] The controversy was reignited in 2003 when he was spotted openly drinking white
wine spritzers.
[6]
On 2 February 2004, Best was convicted of another drunk driving offence and banned from driving for 20 months.
In his book
The Doc's Devils: Manchester United 1972-1977,
author Sean Egan wrote that Best’s “excruciating shyness” was something
“surprisingly few posited as a cause of his alcoholism.”
Illness and death
Graffiti honouring Best like this one in the
New Lodge area appeared all over Belfast after his death.
Best continued to drink, and was sometimes seen at his local
pub in
Surbiton,
Greater London. On 3 October 2005 Best was admitted to
intensive care at the private
Cromwell Hospital in London, suffering from a
kidney
infection caused by the side effects of immuno-suppressive drugs used
to prevent his body from rejecting his transplanted liver.
[5]
On 27 October, newspapers stated that Best was close to death and had
sent a farewell message to his loved ones. Best's condition improved at
first, but deteriorated again in November. On 20 November the British
tabloid
News of the World
published a picture of Best at his own request, showing him in his
hospital bed, along with what was reported to be his final message:
"Don't die like me".
Best's "farewell" message was seen as a way of warning others not to risk suffering a similar fate as a result of alcoholism.
In the early hours of 25 November 2005 treatment was stopped; he
eventually died, aged 59, after a battle that lasted longer than doctors
had expected, at 13:06 GMT that day as a result of a
lung infection and
multiple organ failure.
[5][46]
The
FA Premier League
announced that a minute's silence would be observed before all Premier
League games to be held over the weekend of his death; this was ignored
at many grounds, in favour of a minute's applause in his honour. The
first match at Old Trafford after Best's death was a League Cup tie
against
West Bromwich Albion,
the club against which he made his début for Manchester United in 1963.
The match, which United won, was preceded by tributes from former
team-mate
Sir Bobby Charlton. Best's son Calum and former team-mates, surviving members from the
West Bromwich Albion
team which he played against in his début, all joined the current
United squad on the pitch for a minute's silence, during which fans held
aloft pictures of Best, which were given out before the match.
Funeral
Best Family Grave, Roselawn Crematorium and Cemetery, Belfast - geograph.org.uk - 331615
His body left the family home at Cregagh Road,
East Belfast, shortly after 10 a.m.
UTC on Saturday, 3 December 2005. The cortege then travelled the short distance to
Stormont.
The route was lined with around 100,000 mourners. There was an 11 a.m.
service in the Grand Hall relayed to around 25,000 mourners inside the
grounds of Stormont. As the cortege left Stormont, the
Gilnahirk pipe band played. The Funeral was live on several TV stations including
BBC One.
Afterward, Best was buried beside his mother Annie Elizabeth Kelly in a
private ceremony at the hill-top Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east
Belfast.
Memorials
Belfast City Airport was controversially
[47] renamed
George Best Belfast City Airport as a tribute to Best.
[48]
The official new name and signage was unveiled to a gathering of the
Best family and friends at the airport on 22 May 2006 which would have
been his 60th birthday.
Public opinion in Northern Ireland about the renaming of the airport
was divided, with one poll showing 52% in favour and 48% against.
[49] Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) deputy leader and
East Belfast Member of Parliament
Peter Robinson, in whose constituency Belfast City airport is situated, stated that his preference was a sports stadium be named after Best.
[50]
In March 2006, airline
Flybe, named a
Dash 8 (Q400) plane
The George Best. The aircraft was later used to carry Best's family across to the
Manchester memorial service for Best.
[51]
In June 2006, Sarah Fabergé, great-granddaughter of Russian Imperial Jeweller
Carl Fabergé
was commissioned to create the George Best Egg, in tribute. A strictly
limited edition of 68 eggs were produced, with all profits from the sale
of the eggs going to the George Best Foundation. The first egg from the
collection is now on permanent public display at the George Best
Airport.
For the first anniversary of his death,
Ulster Bank issued one million commemorative five pound notes.
[52] The notes sold out in five days.
[53] The notes sold on the online auction site
eBay for up to £30.
[54]
Current plans for a new national stadium for Northern Ireland near
Lisburn
include a proposed statue of Best as one of several celebrating
sporting heroes from the country. These statues would surround the main
sporting arena and Best would be joined by rugby player
Willie John McBride,
Gaelic Football player
Cormac McAnallen,
Olympic gold medalist
Mary Peters,
Grand National winner
Richard Dunwoody,
Grand Prix driver
Eddie Irvine, Motor cycle World champion
Joey Dunlop and
snooker world champion
Alex Higgins.
In December 2006 the
George Best Memorial Trust launched a
fund-raising drive to raise £200,000 in subscriptions to pay for a
life-size bronze sculpture of George Best. By 2008 the money had still
not been raised until a local developer, Doug Elliott, announced on 29
January 2008, that he would put up the rest of the money and would
manage delivery of the project.
[55]
In popular culture
George Best's autobiographies include:
- Bestie (co-written with Joe Lovejoy),
- The Good, The Bad and The Bubbly (with Ross Benson)
- Blessed: The Autobiography (with Roy Collins)
- George Best: A Celebration (Bernie Smith and Maureen Hunt)
- Scoring at Half Time (with Martin Knight).
- Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, while at the peak of his career, Best advertised
Cookstown
Sausages on TV with the phrase "the Best family sausages". In 2007 a
memorial plaque was placed outside the pork factory in the
County Tyrone town.
[56]
In the year 1970, German
avantgarde film director Hellmuth Costard made a film entitled "Fußball wie noch nie", translated into English as "
Football like never before".
The film shows only Best, filmed from 8 cameras, during a regular
Manchester United match. The film was screened in the year 1971 by
German public broadcast ARD.
Best had a
cameo as himself in the 1971 British comedy film
Percy.
In 1972 he made a TV series 'The Best in Football' coaching soccer to children.
In 1984 Best made a fitness album with
Mary Stavin called
Shape Up and Dance.
A warts-and-all biopic simply entitled
Best was released in the year 2000. The Mary McGuckian directed film starred
John Lynch as George Best,
Ian Bannen as
Matt Busby,
Roger Daltrey as
Rodney Marsh,
Linus Roache as
Denis Law, and
Jerome Flynn as
Bobby Charlton. The film also featured
Patsy Kensit and
Sophie Dahl as Best's love interests.
Best was released in UK cinemas on 12 May 2000, and was subsequently released on Region 2
PAL DVD on 27 January in the year 2003 by Mosaic Movies.
Indie rock band
The Wedding Present named their first album after him. He is featured on the cover wearing his red Manchester United kit.
Best has been mentioned in numerous other songs, television shows and
internet articles. It has been reported that George was the inspiration
for
Dedicated Follower of Fashion, by
The Kinks, and most recently inspired the song
Where Did It All Go Wrong Mr Best? on the 2008 album
Bingo by
Rinaldi Sings.
Leading the way in popular culture through the 1960s and early 1970s,
as well as recognised worldwide, it is no surprise that the legacy left
by George Best has ensured that items connected with him are now highly
collectable. In January 2010, a previously unknown collection of Best
memorabilia and photographs was discovered in a house in
Worsley,
Greater Manchester.
[57]
In 2007,
GQ named him as one of the 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years.
[58]
