George Best

George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish footballer. He played as a winger. Best played most of his club career at Manchester United. Best is said to be one of the best players in the history of the sport. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968 and came fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. Best received praise for his playing style. It combined pace, skill, balance, feints, goalscoring and the ability to get past defenders. In Belfast, where Best was born, they named the airport after him.

George Best

Best with Northern Ireland in 1976
Personal information
Full name	George Best
Date of birth	(1946-05-22)22 May 1946
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death	25 November 2005(2005-11-25) (aged 59)
Place of death	South Kensington, London, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Winger, attacking midfielder
Youth career
	Cregagh Boys Club
1961–1963	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1963–1974	Manchester United	361	(137)
1974	Jewish Guild	5	(0)
1975	Stockport County	3	(2)
1975–1976	Cork Celtic	3	(0)
1976	Los Angeles Aztecs	23	(15)
1976–1977	Fulham	42	(8)
1977–1978	Los Angeles Aztecs	32	(12)
1978–1979	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	28	(6)
1979–1980	Hibernian	17	(3)
1980–1981	San Jose Earthquakes	56	(21)
1982–1983	AFC Bournemouth	5	(0)
1983	Brisbane Lions	4	(0)
Total		688	(246)
National team
1964–1977	Northern Ireland	37	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Both of Best's marriages ended in divorce. He was married to Angie Best from 1978-1986; the couple had a son, Calum Best. George Best was married to Alex Best from 1995-2004.

Best was an alcoholic. He had a liver transplant in 2003. He died of a lung infection and multiple organ failure in London.

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester United	1963–64	First Division	17	4	7	2	—		2	0	0	0	26	6
	1964–65	First Division	41	10	7	2	—		11	2	0	0	59	14
	1965–66	First Division	31	9	5	3	—		6	4	1	1	43	17
	1966–67	First Division	42	10	2	0	1	0	—		0	0	45	10
	1967–68	First Division	41	28	2	1	—		9	3	1	0	53	32
	1968–69	First Division	41	19	6	1	—		6	2	2	0	55	22
	1969–70	First Division	37	15	8	6	8	2	—		0	0	53	23
	1970–71	First Division	40	18	2	1	6	2	—		3	1	51	22
	1971–72	First Division	40	18	7	5	6	3	—		1	1	54	27
	1972–73	First Division	19	4	0	0	4	2	—		0	0	23	6
	1973–74	First Division	12	2	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	12	2
	Total		361	137	46	21	25	9	34	11	8	3	474	181
Dunstable Town	1974–75	Southern League Division One North	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Stockport County	1975–76	Fourth Division	3	2	0	0	0	0	—		—		3	2
Cork Celtic	1975–76	League of Ireland	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
Los Angeles Aztecs	1976	North American Soccer League	23	15	—		—		—		1	0	24	15
Fulham	1976–77	Second Division	32	6	2	0	3	2	—		—		37	8
	1977–78	Second Division	10	2	0	0	0	0	—		—		10	2
	Total		42	8	2	0	3	2	—		—		47	10
Los Angeles Aztecs	1977	North American Soccer League	20	11	—		—		—		5	2	25	13
	1978	North American Soccer League	12	1	—		—		—		—		12	1
	Total		32	12	—		—		—		5	2	37	14
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	1978	North American Soccer League	9	4	—		—		—		5	1	14	5
	1979	North American Soccer League	19	2	—		—		—		—		19	2
	Total		28	6	—		—		—		5	1	33	7
Hibernian	1979–80	Scottish Premier Division	13	3	3	0	0	0	—		—		16	3
	1980–81	Scottish First Division	4	0	0	0	2	0	—		—		6	0
	Total		17	3	3	0	2	0	—		—		22	3
San Jose Earthquakes	1980	North American Soccer League	26	8	—		—		—		—		26	8
	1981	North American Soccer League	30	13	—		—		—		—		30	13
	Total		56	21	—		—		—		—		56	21
AFC Bournemouth	1982–83	Third Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
Brisbane Lions	1983	National Soccer League	4	0	0	0	—		—		—		4	0
Career total			574	204	52	21	30	11	34	11	19	6	705	251

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Northern Ireland	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

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Best goal.

List of international goals scored by George Best

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 November 1964	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	1–2	1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	25 November 1964	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–0	2–3	1964–65 British Home Championship
3	7 May 1965	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Albania	4–1	4–1	1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	23 October 1968	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Turkey	1–1	4–1	1970 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	21 April 1970	Wembley Stadium, London, England	England	1–1	1–3	1969–70 British Home Championship
6	3 February 1971	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1972 qualification
7	21 April 1971	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Cyprus	2–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 1972 qualification
8				3–0
9				4–0

George Best Media

• 

  Best grew up on the Cregagh estate, east Belfast. The playing fields in the estate where he played football as a boy, Cregagh Green, is protected for community recreation in perpetuity as a Fields in Trust Active Space.

• 

  George Best memorabilia at the Manchester United museum at Old Trafford

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  Best (middle) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, October 1976

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  Best in Hong Kong in 1982

• 

  Mural of George Best in Belfast in his dribbling pose

• 

  Gbcityhall

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  Best's grave at Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east Belfast

Other websites

• English Football Hall of Fame Profile Archived 2005-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
• The George Best Foundation Archived 2009-06-28 at the Wayback Machine