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.

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

|rowspan="2"|Club|rowspan="2"|Season|colspan="3"|League|colspan="2"|Cup|colspan="2"|League Cup|colspan="2"|Continental|colspan="2"|Other|colspan="2"|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="12"|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||||
|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|||||
|rowspan="3"|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|||||
|rowspan="3"|Los Angeles Aztecs|1977|North American Soccer League|20|11|—|—|—|5|2|25|13||||
|1978|North American Soccer League|12|1|—|—|—|—|12|1|||||||
|rowspan="3"|Fort Lauderdale Strikers|1978|North American Soccer League|9|4|—|—|—|5|1|14|5||||
|1979|North American Soccer League|19|2|—|—|—|—|19|2|||||||
|rowspan="3"|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|||||
|rowspan="3"|San Jose Earthquakes|1980|North American Soccer League|26|8|—|—|—|—|26|8|||||
|1981|North American Soccer League|30|13|—|—|—|—|30|13|||||||
|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|||||

### International

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="14"|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|||

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

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

## Other websites

- English Football Hall of Fame Profile
- The George Best Foundation

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: George Best
- **image**: George_Best_(1976).jpg
- **caption**: Best with Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland in 1976
- **fullname**: George Best
- **birth place**: Belfast, Northern Ireland
- **death place**: South Kensington, London, England
- **position**: Winger (association football), Winger, attacking midfielder
- **youthclubs1**: Cregagh Boys Club
- **youthyears2**: 1961–1963
- **youthclubs2**: Manchester United F.C., Manchester United
- **years1**: 1963–1974
- **clubs1**: Manchester United F.C., Manchester United
- **caps1**: 361
- **goals1**: 137
- **years2**: 1974
- **clubs2**: Jewish Guild
- **caps2**: 5
- **goals2**: 0
- **years3**: 1975
- **clubs3**: Stockport County F.C., Stockport County
- **caps3**: 3
- **goals3**: 2
- **years4**: 1975–1976
- **clubs4**: Cork Celtic F.C., Cork Celtic
- **caps4**: 3
- **goals4**: 0
- **years5**: 1976
- **clubs5**: Los Angeles Aztecs
- **caps5**: 23
- **goals5**: 15
- **years6**: 1976–1977
- **clubs6**: Fulham F.C., Fulham
- **caps6**: 42
- **goals6**: 8
- **years7**: 1977–1978
- **clubs7**: Los Angeles Aztecs
- **caps7**: 32
- **goals7**: 12
- **years8**: 1978–1979
- **clubs8**: Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- **caps8**: 28
- **goals8**: 6
- **years9**: 1979–1980
- **clubs9**: Hibernian F.C., Hibernian
- **caps9**: 17
- **goals9**: 3
- **years10**: 1980–1981
- **clubs10**: San Jose Earthquakes (1974–88), San Jose Earthquakes
- **caps10**: 56
- **goals10**: 21
- **years11**: 1982–1983
- **clubs11**: AFC Bournemouth
- **caps11**: 5
- **goals11**: 0
- **years12**: 1983
- **clubs12**: Queensland Lions FC, Brisbane Lions
- **caps12**: 4
- **goals12**: 0
- **totalcaps**: 688
- **totalgoals**: 246
- **nationalyears1**: 1964–1977
- **nationalteam1**: Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland
- **nationalcaps1**: 37
- **nationalgoals1**: 9