George Best-Gap Rating 4/10

He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the greatest football players of all time, remembered for his halcyon days with Manchester United F.C.. He played for the Northern Ireland football team, but their failure to reach the final rounds of the World Cup denied him the ultimate global stage.

He played for United as a winger between 1963 and 1974, helping them to win the Football League Championship in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968. He was named European Footballer of the Year and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1968. He had a rare combination of pace, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring prowess and the ineffable ability to run through entire defences. Indeed, Pelé, the Brazilian who is often said to be the greatest player of all time, called Best "the greatest footballer in the world". The great Argentinian Diego Maradona regarded Best equally highly.

Best's lovable, cheeky image won him many fans, during his career and after. News of Best's death led to tears on the streets of Belfast, before and during a funeral for which some 100,000 people turned out on a rainy day. Best had developed a drinking problem while still a player, and it contributed to his early retirement from top-level football. He was imprisoned in 1984 for drunk driving and assaulting a policeman and was unable to give up alcohol for any length of time. The condition of his liver deteriorated to the point where a transplant became necessary. The immuno-suppressive drugs given to prevent rejection of his new liver caused him to develop a serious kidney infection, which his doctors were unable to redress. In 2005, the infection caused him to fall into a coma. His final days were watched over by his father and other family members, and also by former football colleagues such as United's Denis Law. He died at the age of 59 and is buried in East Belfast.

At the age of 15, Best was discovered in Belfast by Manchester United scout Bob Bishop, whose telegram to United manager Sir Matt Busby read: "I have found a genius". His local club Glentoran had previously rejected him for being "too small and light". Best was subsequently given a trial and signed up by chief scout Joe Armstrong in 1961. He turned professional and made his debut for Manchester United in 1963 against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford. He became world-famous at the age of eighteen when he scored three goals in a European Cup match against Benfica in 1966, and scored in United's European Cup final win against the same club in 1968.

He made 466 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions, scoring 178 goals (including six in one game against Northampton Town). Best was United's top scorer for six consecutive seasons. During this run he also topped the first division scoring charts in 1967-68 with 28 goals, remarkable for a player who was not an out-and-out striker. In 1974, the 27-year-old Best was sacked by United for excessive drinking and persistent failure to attend training sessions and matches. His last competitive game for the club was on 1 January 1974 against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

Over the next decade, Best drifted between several football clubs including spells in America, Scotland and Australia. He played for three clubs in America: Los Angeles Aztecs, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and San Jose Earthquakes; he also played for the Detroit Express on an European tour. At San Jose Earthquakes, the club was owned by Milan Mandaric with whom George developed a close relationship over the years. Throughout 2004 George was often seen with Milan at the club he runs, Portsmouth FC. In 1983 George finally retired from the game, at the age of 37. His last games as a professional were with third division A.F.C. Bournemouth.

He was capped 37 times for Northern Ireland, scoring nine goals. He played mainly as a winger and was known for his dribbling skills and passing. Many say it was a shame that Best never got to perform on the world stage due to Northen Ireland's lack of success. Best called for a United Ireland soccer team on more than one occasion. On 15 May 1971, Best scored the cheekiest and arguably the most famous 'goal' of his career at Windsor Park in Belfast against Gordon Banks. The English goalkeeper was about to kick the ball downfield and dropped the ball towards his left foot. However, Best had anticipated the move and, with his right boot, knocked the ball up in the air behind Banks. The famous duo both scrambled towards the net but Best outpaced Banks and headed the ball into the empty goal, to the delight of the home supporters. His effort was disallowed for ungentlemanly conduct by a referee whose back had been turned away from the incident, but even this untimely and incorrect intervention did not spare Banks the embarrassment of having been outwitted.

Diego Maradona has frequently named Best as his all-time favourite player and Pelé once stated that Best was the best player he ever saw play. He also named him as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list.

In 1988, a testimonial match was held for Best at Windsor Park, Belfast. Amongst 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.

In 1998, Best became a football pundit on Sky Sports.

In November 2004 Best agreed to join FA Premier League club Portsmouth F.C. as a youth coach, citing his desire to get involved in football again.

Best opened two nightclubs in Manchester, in the late 1960s, Oscar's and the other called Slack Alice's. He also owned fashion boutiques, in partnership with Mike Summerbee of Manchester City. He also opened "Bestie's Beach Club" (now called "The Undergound" after the London subway system) in Hermosa Beach, California U.S.A. and lived in the city throughout the 1970's, 80'sand 90's. He was able to achieve some "treasured anonymity" there.

British group The Fall, fronted by Mark E. Smith, mentioned Best in their 1983 football-themed single, "Kicker Conspiracy," with the line: "In the Blues Club/ George Best does rule," in reference to Best's popularity even amongst Manchester City (the "Blues") fans. Smith has said that even though he is a City fan, he often went with mates to watch United just so he could see Best play.

In 1984, Best made a fitness video with Mary Stavin called Shape Up And Dance.

Indie group The Wedding Present's 1987 debut album was titled George Best and featured him on the cover.

The Belfast Oi Punk band Runnin' Riot have a song titled "Alcoholic Heroes" written about George Best.

The eldest child of Dickie and Anne, Best was brother to Carol, Barbara, Julie, Grace and Ian.

Best was married twice:

1. Angela Douglas-James (1978-1986), with whom he had a son, Calum
2. Alex Pursey (1995-2004)

According to the Daily Mirror, Best had two illegitimate daughters. 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 swore and was clearly drunk. He later apologized and said this was one of the worst episodes of his alcoholism.

In 2002, he had a liver transplant. In 2003 he was the focus of much criticism when, despite his transplant, he openly drank white wine spritzers and was accused of being selfish and having no regard for other people's feelings. Also in 2003, his second wife Alex Best appeared as a contestant on the reality television programme I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and made allegations about their relationship.

On 2 February 2004, Best was convicted of another drunk driving offence and banned from driving for 20 months.

Best continued to drink, and was sometimes seen at his local pub in Petersfield, Hampshire. On 3 October 2005 Best was admitted to intensive care at the private Cromwell Hospital in London, suffering from kidney problems caused by the side-effects of immuno-suppressive drugs used to prevent his body from rejecting his transplanted liver. On 27 October, newspapers stated that Best was close to death and had sent farewell messages 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". Of the many tributes left to George near his hospital bed, one was a signed football which read: "From the second best player in the world". It was signed by Pele, the man many people consider to be the greatest player ever to play the game.

In the early hours of 25 November 2005 Best's treatment was stopped; he eventually died, after a battle that lasted longer than doctors had expected, at 13:06 GMT from a lung infection and multiple organ failure. His father, four sisters, brother, son and agent were all at his bedside, as was his former United team-mate Denis Law.

The FA Premier League announced that a minute's silence would be observed before all Premiership games to be held over the weekend of his death, however, this tradition was ignored at many grounds, in favour of a minute's applause in his honour. Many football supporters travelled to pay tribute to Best outside Manchester United's stadium Old Trafford, Windsor Park in Belfast and at Belfast City Hall and outside his father's home where they left signed shirts, scarves, flowers and messages. The city of Belfast subsequently announced that those mementos left by fans are to be collected and given to children's charities. George's father Dickie condemned the theft of some football memorabilia left by fans at the Best home in the Cregagh estate.

Best's funeral was one of the largest that Northern Ireland has ever seen. Best's body left the family home at Cregagh Road, East Belfast, shortly after 10 a.m. UTC on Saturday, December 3. 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, and live on BBC One, UTV, RTÉ, ITV News, BBC News 24, Sky News, Sky Sports News, EuroNews and MUTV. Afterwards, Best was buried beside his mother Annie in a private ceremony at the hill-top Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east Belfast. Bryan Appleyard's reporting of the funeral and remarks about the various members of the Best family in the Sunday Times led to calls by the Belfast Telegraph for his sacking.