Best's wife broke arm during marital row

The wife of Northern Ireland soccer legend, George Best, has revealed how she broke her arm after a marital spat with her husband.

Alex Best, who is 26 years her husband's junior, revealed how she fell and broke her arm after a row with Best over his continuing drinking problems in the past.

Alex made the revelation during a TV documentary, to be screened tonight on the BBC, called 'George Best: Me and My Liver'.

During the programme, to be hosted by Fiona Bruce, Best's wife reveals how through the darkest days of their marriage George would go for weeks without speaking to her as alcohol took a grip on his life.

She said: "He'd come in, he wouldn't speak to me, get changed, go to the pub, come back, have a sleep, go back out to the pub again.

"There were times when it was really bad and I was quite young and looking back on it I wouldn't even go there again... I would not put up with it now."

George Best also revealed the guilt he felt following his recent life-saving liver transplant.

He said: "When I went back to hospital I felt so useless. I didn't want to do anything. The nurses would leave the bed unmade so I had to get up. They said even if I wasn't emotional normally that I would go through certain periods where I would just break down.

He added: "The first time it happened it freaked me out... I was crying my eyes out. It only lasted a couple of seconds but since then I've had two or three. I feel such a prat but it's getting easier and easier."

The former Manchester United star, whose career was blighted by alcoholism, also confronted the moral issue of an alcoholic undergoing a liver transplant.

However, while George plans never to drink again, Mrs Best seemed a little more hesistant. She added: "I hope so, I really do but we never know do we?"

(MB)