George Best
- Profession: Professional Football Player
- Place/Date of Birth: Belfast, 22 May 2020
- Date of Death: 25 November 2020
- Associated with: Calum Best
He was rushed to the Chelsea and Westminster by ambulance from the Cromwell Hospital, where he was admitted over the weekend. Best, who was a notoriously heavy drinker, was given the new liver nearly a month ago.
George Best recovers from liver transplant - 31/07/02
George Best yesterday underwent a liver transplant operation at London’s Cromwell Hospital. The 56-year-old ex-footballer had permentaly damaged his liver with all the excessive alcohol he consumed throughout his life.
His wife, Alex Best, 29, and Son Calum, 21, kept a vigil during the 10 hour operation it’s believed he has been given an 80% chance of a good result and is said to be recovering well even though he remains in intensive care for the next 36 hours. Best had been waiting for a liver transplant for eight months.
George Offered a new football job - 09/07/01
George Best could become a paid up member of a football team again, as director of Second Division club Bury. Millionaire Alex Tarsus, who is planning a takeover of the club, hopes to get Best to take the job to create some media interest in the team. Phil Hughes, George Best’s manager confirmed that Best had been approached,
"George is on holiday at present, but we will be sitting down to talk about it when he returns. It’s all a bit vague, but there has been an offer of some involvement with Bury."
George Best back in hospital - 02/04/01
Football legend George Best has had to return to hospital in London for tests after falling off the wagon yet again. At the insistence of his wife Alex, the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star is expected to attend hospital next week in his continuing battle against the booze. He went shopping near his home in County Down on Wednesday but looked tired and haggard. Best’s agent Phil Hughes confirmed he will return to London for tests with Professor Roger Williams who warned alcohol was killing him.
Best faces a new battle 6/02/01
George Best, ex-football star and ex-Chelsea resident is reported to be in a "poor condition" as he battles with pneumonia in hospital, although his condition isn’t thought to be life-threatening or related to alcohol.
Best was admitted to hospital in Belfast City after developing a chest infection at his home near the fishing village of Portavogie, Co Down. He moved from Chelsea to Northern Ireland six months ago after a long battle with alcoholism which put Best in hospital with liver problems for five weeks.
At the time doctors pleaded with local barman not to serve him when he entered their pubs. He is reported to be keeping away from alcohol but doctors say the latest bout of illness isn’t related to alcohol.
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The first Celebrity Footballer, Best was not only noticed for his style and flair on the pitch but his showmanship and fashion-sense. His hairstyle saw Best dubbed the 'fifth Beatle' and he was even invited to appear on Top of the Pops. In the 1966-67 season Best scored in the European Cup Final against Benefica and consequently was named European Footballer of the Year and Football Writers Association Player of the Year.
However the glamour of stardom had seduced Best. In the late sixties he opened two nightclubs, Oscar's and Slack Alice's and invested in clothes shops in partnership with Manchester City's Mike Summerbee. However the lifestyle led to gambling, drinking and womanising and in 1974 Best was sacked from Manchester United for failing to attend training and matches and persistent boozing. He played his last game for the team on New Year's Day.
Despite a brief resurgence in 1976-77, playing for Fulham FC, Best drifted around football clubs in the UK, America and Australia never regaining the promise he had shown in the sixties. Now considered one of history's greatest players, placed eleventh in the IFFHS European Player of the Century listing and spoke of in Northern Ireland as the finest player to have graced the pitch; 'Pele good, Maradona better, George Best'.
In 1984 Best was sentenced to three months in prison for drink driving, failing to answer bail and assaulting a Police Officer, it was clear that the problem that had lost the footballer his career was destined to rule his life. He continued to drink throughout the rest of his life and it was this that dominated headlines - from his drunken appearance on Wogan to reported physical abuse of his wife Alex in 2004.
In 2002 Best underwent a liver transplant but nonetheless continued to drink much to the disgust of press and public. Three years later Best was admitted to hospital with kidney problems - a side effect of the drugs which stopped his body from rejecting his new liver. Close to death Best requested a picture of him be printed in the News of the World with the message 'Don't Die Like Me'. He survived for longer than doctors expected but in the early hours of November 25 2005 his treatment was withdrawn and Best died.
A huge public outpouring of grief commenced, the pinnacle of which was a massive state funeral in Belfast. In addition Belfast airport was renamed George Best Belfast City Airport and commemorative five pound notes were produced.
Married twice, his first wife Angela Macdonald-James, mother of Best's son Calum, died in 1986. Alex Pursey divorced Best in 2004 amid claims of adultery and physical abuse.
March 2007