George Best 1946 - 2005

Footballing legend George Best was born on May 22, 1946 to parents Ann and Dickie. Raised in the mainly Protestant Cregagh estate in east Belfast alongside four sisters and one brother, Best was spotted at the age 15 by Manchester United scout Bob Bishop and given a trial in 1961 along with fellow Belfast boy Eric McMordie.

Despite both boys returning to Belfast homesick, Best went on to make his debut for the Old Trafford side just two years later, and would amass 466 United games, scoring 179 times. A year later he made his Northern Ireland debut and went on to make 37 international appearances, scoring nine goals.

His most memorable games came for both sides when, in 1966, he tore apart Benfica, then the greatest side in Europe, in a 5-1 victory. His performance, which included two goals, saw him dubbed El Beatle!

For Northern Ireland, he showed his brilliance numerous times but none more so than against Scotland in a Home International at Windsor Park on October 21, 1967.

According to reporters of the day, including Malcolm Brodie in a Belfast Telegraph article a few years ago, Best "mesmerised the Scots, took the game by the scruff of the neck and made it live in Technicolour".

However, his sparkling top-flight career came to a premature end in 1974, when Best was sacked by United for excessive drinking and persistent failure to attend training sessions and matches.

Over the next decade, he drifted between several football clubs including Fulham, Stockport County, Dunstable Town, Hibernian, Los Angeles Aztecs, San Jose Earthquakes and finally Bournemouth until he retired from the game in 1983 at the age of 37.

In between times he married his first wife Angie, who give birth to son Calum. However, they separated just eight years later.

He was to marry again, to air hostess Alex Pursey, who was 26 years his junior, however, this marriage would again end in tears amid accusations of violence, drunken binges and infidelity.

In 2002, he underwent a liver transplant after years of alcohol abuse however sadly just a year later he went back on the booze undeterred by medical advice that he could kill himself as a result.

Just over a month ago, Best was admitted to west London's Cromwell Hospital with flu-like symptoms. This is turn spread to his kidneys and other organs. It was to be the start of what was to be George's final battle.

Although alcohol was not directly related to recent health problems, Best would have been more susceptible to infection because he had been on a course of medication to suppress the immune system and prevent his body rejecting the new liver.

His death, although expected, has shocked the nation and while many will look at the years many thought he wasted, the majority of people will also remember the Belfast lad who went on to mesmerise the world with his footballing prowess and skill as well as determination and fight which also summed up his final days of life.

(MB/SP)