All language subtitles for BBC.George.Best.All.by.Himself.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.mkv.stream2

George Best is through.

He goes round Enrique.
He must score.

And the crowd rising to Best.

Here comes Best again.

What a player this boy is.
He's got another! What a...

I'm taking my new baby for a
check-up.

It's raining and it's miserable.

It's like a movie.

The windscreen wipers are going and
I'm really happy

because I've got my little baby
next to me...

..and I see this man walking down
the centre of the road,

down the yellow lines.

And this poor man is all hunched
over, soaking wet and I think, oh,

my God, that poor homeless tramp.

Then I realise it's my husband.

Drunk as a skunk, walking down the
road, soaking wet,

obviously staggering home,

and I just keep driving.

Taking my baby to the doctor.

I'm done. I'm done.

He was out of reach in so many ways.

Out of reach of not just his mates
who wanted to help,

and perhaps tried to. Out of reach
of defenders, of coaches,

of his ladies, of his wife.

A true story of
Shakespearean tragedy.

Sad, isn't it? When somebody
sabotages themselves, really.

I think he was a victim of
his excess.

For a time there, he was the best
player in the world.

You can't describe the feeling.

You know, this little skinny
15-year-old kid from Belfast

has been invited to one of
the biggest clubs in the world

for a trial.

The furthest I think I'd ever been
out of Belfast was to Bangor,

which was about 15 miles
down the road.

I just seen him going out of my
life into a country

that he knew nothing about.

Wondered what he would do because of
him being so shy and backward.

He was very frail.

I went off with Eric McMordie,
another young lad.

Because it was such a
footballing city,

I'd heard about him before I'd
actually seen him.

His reputation then was
already growing.

Manchester United, the name itself
is frightening.

The first thing that struck me was
the size of everybody.

We were two little kids, but when we
looked at people like Harry Gregg,

he looked like a monster to us.

George went very quiet and I said
to him, George,

how did you feel, type of thing, and
before he could answer I thought I'd

better tell him and be honest with
him exactly how I felt.

He just said to me,
'Do you want to go home?'

You know, we'd been there half a day
or something.

He said, I think I'd be better going
home as well, Eric.

We decided yeah, we didn't want to
be away from home, and really,

we didn't think we were going to
make it.

I think it was just the fact the
two of us hadn't been very far

in life, really, and found it
extremely difficult.

It's very, very hard for kids at 14
or 15 to leave home

and not have their parents to turn
to and ask advice from.

When I came home, my brothers
happened to say to me,

"You've given one of the best
opportunities of your life up."

We all make mistakes in life and
that was a mistake, a great mistake.

On the fringe of a Munich airport
lies the wreckage of an airliner.

Still smouldering from a crash in
which 21 people were killed.

Tragedy enough at any time,

but in that plane were a group of
young men

who were almost the personal
friends of millions.

Manchester United,

the finest soccer team Britain
has produced since the war.

I was playing with Celtic then.

I was only a kid on the
reserve team.

I remember going training on a
Thursday night.

It was only when we got to Celtic
Park that we realised

the number of players that more
or less were dead

and some of them that were
near death.

That's like the John
Kennedy assassination.

Everybody remembers that date

and everyone remembers the date
of Munich.

Here is the news.

The aircraft is a twin-engined
Elizabethan on charter from BEA.

It was returning from Belgrade,

where Manchester United had entered
the semifinal of the European Cup.

Manchester United was the big name
that everybody knew because of this

European Cup, that had come into
being at that time.

Next to the World Cup, this was THE
competition to be in.

Manchester, from the moment the news
came through,

was a city in mourning.

It was as though every family in a
city

of three quarters of a million
people had suffered a personal loss.

It was of such epic proportions
at that time.

What, 23 died?

To me, they were everything.

I mean, because they were a
young side,

most teams were full of old men.

These were blokes who could've been
my older brother.

Matt Busby was their worst problem.

For two days he lay between life and
death with one of his lungs

completely deflated.
Then came the welcome news,

Matt was off the danger list.

I knew something terrible
had happened.

My wife was there.

I said to her, you have to tell me
what has happened.

So when I went through the names,

she either nodded her head or tossed
her head like that.

One really has to think football's
going to go on,

the club is going to manage.

There are certain players that we
know are survivors

and I think with the help of a lot
of the young fellows

they have at Manchester United, then
this Manchester United team

will build itself again.

I have lovely memories of home.

We were never well off and I was the
first of six, eventually.

My father was an iron turner in
the shipyards.

My mother always had
part-time jobs.

She worked in an ice cream factory,
a cigarette factory, anything,

just to bring a few extra bob in.

The sports freak in the family
really was my mother.

She was a hockey player.

A very, very good hockey player and
actually represented her country.

I remember as a young kid, I used to
go and watch her play.

He walked before he was ten months
old and he always had the ball,

even at ten months old.

And ever from that, he's played it
right from ten months.

The living room, bedroom, any
place at all.

Took the ball to bed.

My whole life revolved
around football.

When I got home, poor mum and dad,

they thought I'd done
something wrong.

They couldn't understand why I'd
come home after a day.

I felt I'd let my mum and dad down,

so they contacted the club and
spoke to Sir Matt.

Sir Matt said, we'd like him to
come back and try again.

I'd gone there just three years
after Munich.

No-one really talked about
the air crash.

It wasn't taboo.

People that had been involved in it
who were still at the club really

didn't want to discuss it, which you
can understand, really.

It was only a couple of years after
Munich that George arrived.

My mum, a widow,

she was talked into taking in
footballers from Old Trafford.

He was treated as a son.

If he stepped out of line, I mean,
she'd tell him, same as she tell me.

She was a typical landlady,
you know?

She became my second mum, looked
after me and tried to protect me

as much as she could.

You did your training and
in the afternoons

you were cleaning the boots
of your heroes.

It was exciting, it really was.

I went to watch a youth match
at Old Trafford one day

and this kid's playing outside
left for United

and I'm sitting beside
Jack Crompton,

who was the first team trainer.

I'm struck, you know, right?

God Almighty, what's this?

And I turned to Jack Crompton,
I says, "Who's the kid?"

"Oh, it's George Best. We're try to
keep it quiet."

We're trying to keep him quiet and
let nobody know about him.

I says, well, you're going to make a
big mistake because everybody's seen

him on the pitch. You've no chance.

He's was just sensational.

I'd never seen anything like him.

And you know something?
You never met a nicer lad.

Quiet, wrote to his
parents every week

to tell them how things were going
and all that.

I got to know him exceptionally
well, George, and what a lovely lad.

In Northern Ireland is George Best,

the Manchester United boy from
Cregagh district of Belfast

who has done so well since he went
in the team.

George, tell me about yourself.

Well, I've always been
interested in football

since I was a youngster
and the first I ever played

was at Lisnasharragh school in the
school's teams

and I played for Cregagh Boys Club
and a Manchester United scout

seen me playing for Cregagh and
invited me for trials

with Manchester United.

At first when I went over,

I only stayed a couple of days and I
was homesick and I came back home.

But my father, he had a talk with
Matt Busby,

and they said they'd give me another
chance,

so I went back and stayed
since then.

This one particular day, it was my
day off,

it was a Wednesday and Wednesday
morning

I ended up going to a cafe called
the Kardomah,

and I noticed George Best sat on his
own in a corner.

He'd just come back from Belfast,
where he'd been homesick.

We were just two lads who were lost
in a big city

and we were a bit lonely and we just
spoke to each other

and we got on very well.
We never spoke about football.

The relationship that we had was
very, very close.

It really was about two young lads
who were lost, really.

Once he got over the shyness, he was
one of the lads,

like all the rest of us.

We'd go to the pictures together.

On a Sunday evening George would
come along to bingo at the church

and then we'd go out with my mum in
the local pub

and we were allowed a shandy each.

In that early period, we were
good boys.

We'd be in bed for 11, 12 o'clock
at night,

after the dot on the television.

I always remember coming home from
work and my mum said,

'You're not going to believe it'.
So I said, 'What?'

She said, 'George is playing today.'

When I actually made my debut,
I'd been playing in the A team,

not even in the reserves,

and I had no thoughts in my head
that I was going to play.

But Sir Matt said, "You're playing
today, son,"

and that was it.

The funny thing, I wasn't nervous.

I just couldn't wait to get
out there.

I was born with something and I
didn't have to work very hard at it.

If I was playing against a player in
particular

who was giving me a hard
time and he was getting stuck in,

I would stand on the ball and tell
him to come and get it off me

and the crowd went crazy,
and I loved it.

George became addicted to football.

He spent every possible hour
developing his abilities

and just enjoying it, and almost
having, one would imagine,

transcendental experiences when he
found what he could do

on a football park.

He put the ball through my leg, and
he did it again.

And he did it a third time.

And I said,

"Son, if you do that again, I'll
break your bloody neck."

Best.

Oh, he's going to get number five.

Yes!

Beautiful football by George Best.

The boy with the Beatle haircut.

I'd only been away from Belfast for
two years

and I played for one of the greatest
club sides of all time

when I was 17.

Best.

There's more... And it's 3-0!

And Manchester United just carving
this Arsenal team apart.

The times I saw him playing and I
played against him,

he was coming on the field pulling
his socks up, doing his boots up.

It was as if you were going home
from school and you were just,

you went in the house and put your
other shoes on

and took your uniform off and went
out and played football.

That's how he was.
Perfect footballer.

McCreadie.

Best.

And it's a magnificent goal.

CROWD CHEER

What a magnificent goal!

Truly brilliant football by Best.

Number 11.

Sheer brilliant individual effort
there by Best.

There are boys that would come to
this club from leaving school

and you get a tremendous kick out of
a boy coming,

and eventually coming through and
making himself a top-class player

and, of course, you get a tremendous
sense of seeing a boy achieving

this, and you get a tremendous sense
of achievement yourself.

The affinity was a father and
son affinity

between George and Sir Matt.

Sir Matt just loved him to bits.

From the first time I met him, even
though I was a kid,

I knew I was in the
presence of someone

who was a little bit special.

He became such an important figure
because of the way he treated you

and the way he wanted to play
football.

He wanted to play the way I think it
should be played.

We didn't really have team talks.

He basically threw the ball to us
and said, go out and enjoy yourself.

And it really was just,
sheer enjoyment.

It's like being in control
of anything,

if you think you are the best at it,

whether it's acting or singing or
whatever,

it's nice to go out there knowing
or feeling

that you are better than
anyone else.

From winning the Youth Cup in '64
and '65, the League.

It seemed like it was never
going to end.

It was just getting better
and better.

Because of the Munich crash everyone
at Old Trafford,

particularly people who had been
there during that time,

their dream, of course, was to win
the European Cup.

That was the aim. From Munich, the
aim was to win that cup,

for the fans,
the players, Matt Busby, everybody.

It was Manchester
United's obsession.

We played the first leg and beat
them 3-2 at Old Trafford

and we'd gone there to play them.

They hadn't lost for years and
years at home.

Benfica, playing all in white,
kick off.

Matt was always a great believer
in, for the first 10-15 minutes

of every game, just keep it tight,

quieten the crowd

because there'd be 100-odd thousand
people at the game.

Beautifully intercepted by Best.

Great little player this boy is.

Quieten the crowd and then start
from there.

Quick goal essential for Benfica

if they want to get back
into this game.

Trail 3-2 from the first leg.

Tony Dunne was our left-back and
Tony wasn't the longest kicker

of the ball you ever met in your
life and George was outside

and I said, "George, George, push
over to that left-hand side.

"Tony will never get it. He'll
struggle to get it into the box."

That was the free kick.
Up goes Best, he scores!

Best has got a goal
for Manchester United!

That was my genius.

That's my claim to fame from now on.

I made that first goal by
telling George

Tony couldn't kick it that far.

After seven minutes played,
Manchester United fans go mad.

Best puts them in the lead.

Georgie went daft!

Incredible.

Here comes Best again.

What a player this boy is, he's got
another!

What a player!

"Don't obey orders, George, do what
you want to do."

He was incredible.

This is going to be a rout!

The bigger the stage, the more I
enjoyed it.

It didn't get any bigger
than Benfica.

The control of this boy.

It was 90 minutes of
almost perfection.

He just ran them ragged,
won the game for them.

The night George became a different
person was the night

that George scored two goals
against Benfica.

The fact that the child that the
world hadn't really known about

up to that time, on that night,
became the legend

that was George Best.

Although George was the absolute
star of that performance

it wasn't enough to send
Man United on their way

to winning the European Cup.

We beat Benfica 5-1, then we lost
in the semifinal.

That was a blow because we thought
we were going to win it that year.

But George was just sensational.

You know when you go abroad
sometimes and you do something daft,

like if it's Spain, you buy a big
hat as well.

And he bought it for a laugh,
George, more than anything.

He didn't think for one minute it
was going to be worldwide picture in

the paper or anything like that.

He just, for a laugh,
wore this big sombrero.

When George wore that thing,
I remember saying, George,

great people don't need gimmicks.

In those days, footballers were
always back page stuff.

Front page, no.

When George became the star
that he was,

he became the front page as well as
the back page.

He was capable of producing
a remarkable performance

against Benfica that had
an accelerating effect

on the granting of pop star
status to George.

He became a pop star footballer.

You got the Rolling Stones,

you got all the pop groups, but he
was a footballer.

There was just something special
about him.

It was like an Elvis Presley,

like a young Paul McCartney, where
they just had that special look.

And I could understand why girls
would be very much enamoured

with him, apart from him being
the good-looking bastard he was.

Girls wouldn't leave him alone until
they had a date with him.

Unfortunately, didn't last very
long.

Not many relationships lasted very
long with George.

I think so, yes. Weekends is...

Shut up!

That's your mates laughing at you.

Weekends is really the only time,
you know, I can let go.

I was still only 19, and it became
sort of total madness.

A lot of things happened to him,

that didn't happen to
players before.

If that happened nowadays they would
be clamping down on it

and trying to get help to
the player.

George. Georgie.

Get out of the way, come on.

Maybe if his family had lived in
England at that particular time,

I know Matt tried to get his
family over but they wouldn't leave.

That must have been a difficult
period of time. You're a single lad,

you can't go anywhere, the media are
after you, women are chasing him,

all sorts of things.
It must have been very difficult.

George, how did you get into this
boutique business?

I used to get a bit fed up, in the
afternoons, with nothing else to do.

I mean, once we finish training,

I was walking about town
and I hadn't a clue what to do.

I was getting quite a bit of
publicity so I thought,

try and put it to an advantage.

Does running two boutiques affect
your football in any way?

Not really.
I don't let anything interfere with

the football because it's
put me where I am so

I can't really afford to let
anything get in the way of it.

And you join us at Windsor Park,

Belfast, in perfect footballing
weather as two teams,

Ireland and Scotland, come on
side-by-side.

Georgie Best, one of the key men in
the Irish side.

He could win the match on his own.

George became the first boy,
basically,

who, what I call, was
a superstar in football.

Best.

His nickname in the Ireland
team was 007.

Because that's how he lived.

Best is the most dynamic marksman on
the pitch today.

Everybody got on particularly
well with him.

There was nothing where he thought
he was better than anybody else.

Here he goes again.

I think that ball is tied to
his feet.

The Ireland team in particular had
wonderful, wonderful times.

George Best, the star of this game,

has turned in another
brilliant performance.

The crowd rise to Ireland.

You're on!

You're on!

I still think he has enough sense,
you know, to know what he's doing.

As I say, he's not a child
any longer.

To me, now, he's a man, and I think
he should have a bit of sense now.

A drink?

Anything?

What's anything?

What about girls, Mrs Best?

I just leave that up to the
lad himself.

He must know the good girls from the
bad ones, and I hope that he,

when he does decide to marry or
take a girl,

only would be sensible enough to
take one that can look after him.

Not one that's just wanting him for
his looks, for his money,

because he has a name. I'd like to
see him settling well

and making a real home for himself
and a family,

what have you, you know?

But not one that's just after him
for the name.

The very first time I met him was in
a club in Manchester.

I mean, I knew who he was but to
be honest,

I was living in London at that time
and I was writing films

so I was involved in a completely
different world.

He was gorgeous. You know, he was a
sweet boy,

I thought.

We were very much in love.

George did talk about marriage to me
but it was so early

in our relationship, we were still
swinging from the chandeliers.

His football was the most important
thing to him.

He loved his football, he loved to
train, he loved to play,

he loved to show off. I mean, show
off on the football field.

So that was his focus.

The rest of it was just a bit of fun
and came naturally.

Do you think, in fact, George, if
professional football came to an end

tomorrow you'd still want to play
football seriously every week?

I'd still play it, I play
for anybody.

And anyone that wanted me. I'd
still play it.

You just think you couldn't live
without it?

I couldn't. It's impossible. Do you
not feel on the other hand, Pat,

that there is a very real danger
that when you finish with all this

tremendous drama of sport at this
level, that the rest of your life is

liable to be an anti-climax?
I think it is hard to say

what the rest of your life is going
to be like at the moment,

probably, at our stage,

but I think if you love football the
way I love it, and I know George

loves it, it would be a terrible
anti-climax.

I think most players dread the day

when you've got to hang up your
boots. I know I will.

I'll go out and commit suicide,
I think.

They wanted to win Europe.

We certainly believe we can win it
in '68.

We nearly won it in '66, but we
believed we could win it in '68.

We've got to win it this year.

That is bigger than any other trophy
for us, Manchester United fans,

and the club, I think.

That was the goal.

Absolutely gorgeous day,
a gorgeous evening.

100,000 expectant fans pack
the stands to see great football.

The fact that it was at
Wembley, yeah, was special anyway.

The first English side to get there,
and after the Munich disaster.

Nobody mentioned Munich.

That never got a mention.

Lots of people were thinking about
it, of course.

That would be on everybody's minds.

But nobody mentioned it.

Skipper Bobby Charlton,

and for manager Matt Busby this was
the great occasion of their lives.

There's Eusebio.

Number seven. One man who just needs
no identification.

George Best.

I've never known such tension in
Wembley Stadium before.

This is a tremendous
emotional occasion.

United, playing in blue, kick off.

George Best was in terrific form.

But so was Henrique.

What a tonic for the fans.
United one up in the 55th minute.

One all, and time running out.

I don't know why, but we were so
sure

of winning you wouldn't believe it.

Every one of us knew we were going
to win the game.

Until the 91st minute when Alex
made that save.

Eusebio! Oh, what a save by Stepney!

Eusebio, if you had given him the
same chance 100 times

he would stick it away 99 times and,
fortunately for us, he didn't.

90 minutes up, and still deadlock.

I think it woke us up a little bit.
It gave us a little bit of a jolt.

And we thought we could have
lost it.

I remember Matt getting us all down
and talking to us.

"Don't give the ball away, because
it's such a warm night.

"Don't give the ball away.

"They're a very tired team.

"In fact, all get up on your feet.

"You're not lying down.
Get on your feet now.

"Look at them. They're shattered."

And so on into the first half of
extra time.

Went into extra time and all of
a sudden,

we did what all great sides can do.

We changed gear.

Shouldn't imagine that anyone will
want to run about.

Over much time as extra time.

Sensible players will withhold,
will conserve their energy.

Best. Oh, he's got a great chance!

Oh, he must!

I still have dreams about the
split-second where everything

almost stood still.

100,000 people.
I mean, I knew I was going to score,

but in that split-second between
going past him

and it going into the net, something
might go wrong.

A chance here for George Best.
George Best is through.

He goes round Henrique. He must
score, George Best must score!

George Best has scored!

Second minute of extra time,

George Best has put Manchester
United into the lead.

He simply walked the ball
into the net.

What a goal!
United in the lead.

I was the first
player that met him,

that crashed into him when we were,
obviously, jumping up and down.

And then he scored the second goal,
because we knew that was the winner.

We knew that was it.

The Busby Babes were raring to go.

They hammered Benfica.

Watch this fantastic goal.

But were United finished?

Not on your life.

Bobby Charlton made it 4-1.

Manchester United had well and truly
done it.

They were supreme soccer champions
of Europe.

We have achieved the ultimate.

We've won the big one. And did it
the first time out as well.

My first hero.

I still see his face after the game.

At last Matt Busby, the maestro of
Manchester United,

had groomed a team great enough to
beat Europe's best.

How they cheered as Bobby Charlton
led his men

up to receive the handsome,
outsized trophy.

I can remember quite a lot of the
games and incidents in the games.

I can't remember anything about
after the game.

I don't know where we went
to celebrate,

I don't know where I went.
To this day I can't remember.

He always maintained to me that at
the height of it all,

after he was in the shower after
the European Cup final, he said,

"I immediately went on a downer,

because I thought I may never in my
life ever experience this again."

He came probably about 11-ish
or something.

He was a bit subdued.

It was so emotional for him and for
Matt Busby

and for people like Bobby Charlton
who had been on the plane,

you know, that crashed.

After all those setbacks and all
those years that had passed,

and they finally, you know, got the
Holy Grail or something, you know,

and then, yeah, and then what?
I guess there must have been

a feeling of, "And now what?"
You know.

For a man of 22 at the height of
his powers,

to think that was as good as
it gets,

there's something wrong with him.

BELLS PEAL

I met a young lady. I mean, she
probably saved my life,

because, you know, she brought some
stability to my life.

When he was my best man,
he was absolutely marvellous.

He did everything perfectly.

He was brilliant. But Tina always
said to me, she said,

"I could never imagine George being
an old man, like you!"

May I have your autograph, please,
Mr Best? I seen you on telly.

And I've seen you on telly.
You're Aunt Et's nephew, aren't you?

Yeah. Remember that last match
in Spain?

Terrible game.
Didn't have an egg for breakfast.

Well, there you are. I always play
better when I have had my E for B.

E for B, and be your best.

Cool. So I play centre forward,
you know.

E for B and Georgie Best!

Can I have my kiss now, please?

Commercially,
he was really the first.

Well, he was unprecedented.

He had no real support, if you like.

What the man means is, Cookstown
are the best family sausages.

It was a step into the unknown.
Nobody knew what they were doing.

Nobody knew how big he was
going to be,

or what he could do commercially.

We anticipated that we would sell
in the region of 2,000 pairs.

We, in point of fact,
sold 28,000 pairs.

David Beckham can say thank-you
to George,

because George Best was the first
professional footballer

to become a fashion icon.

They made a lot of
mistakes along the way and I can

understand why, because you just
didn't know what was involved.

The thing with George was that he
didn't really want to do it.

That was the thing.

Unless there were girls involved.

And, usually, the photo shoots
did involve girls,

so he used to do them.

Men's grooming aids, real masculine.

Aftershave, hairspray, talc.

The lot. Fore brings out the best in
a man.

The early start of the season means
a timely shot in the arm

for millions of fans who miss even
a few days

without their favourite relaxation.

It was a chance to see how the
European champions would fare

against their traditional Merseyside
opponents, Everton.

With their European triumph,

United have set themselves
a terrifically high standard.

When we won the European Cup,
everybody said,

"This is the start of something
beautiful and wonderful."

Best. Oh!

That is what makes this
slip of a lad

one of the great players -
sheer speed.

That's when Matt decided that he was
going to retire.

I went to the board and mentioned
that I felt,

in the best interests of the club,
that I should give up

all things appertaining
to team management.

And they accepted with reluctance

and immediately appointed me
general manager.

I think he got tired.
I mean, he had achieved it.

Still a great man, but it was time
for someone else to come in.

To follow Matt Busby?

God Almighty. God Almighty.

We had been so used to the one man
at Manchester United.

A great, great manager.

You know, how do you replace him?
And they tried.

Will you refer all your decisions
to Sir Matt?

Well, I think that's why he has
relinquished the team duties,

to let somebody else have
those decisions

and make those decisions.

Foul given.

I was 22.

And I wasn't going to reach my peak
for another seven or eight years.

It's an own goal by Sadler.

After losing Sir Matt, the team
started to disintegrate very,

very quickly. From going out
week in, week out,

not ever thinking we were going
to lose a game,

we were starting to go out thinking
we were going to lose,

or knowing we were going to lose to
certain sides, which was a disaster.

Good goal.

I started to have a lot of doubts
about what was going on

within the club, which hurt
me, you know,

because Manchester United had been
my whole life.

The team weren't playing
particularly well.

In fact, I think, you know, they did
go on a bit of a downward spiral,

so that must have been really
heartbreaking for him.

He wasn't big-headed, but he wasn't
falsely modest, either.

He knew his worth as a footballer.

He felt that they should have been
building a younger team around him.

Collins' header, that was.

Comes to Best.

And it's there.
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful!

I personally felt I was still doing
it on the field.

But what's the good in me going out
there and being top goal-scorer

this season if we're finishing

19th in the league
and 13th in the league?

George was starting to get strange
things into his head.

Doing certain things that he
basically had never done before,

and continued to go through a spell
after that

which was really the start
of the downfall.

And now, is Best going to have his
name taken?

Ungentlemanly conduct, the book is
out...

I think quite honestly, if you start
throwing mud at the referee,

even today, I think you're going to
be sent off, really, in a way,

you know.

George was starting to make his own
rules up

a little bit as it went along.

George Best is the mercury of
Manchester United.

Banned a month,
a long time for a footballer.

It was the constant expectations of
the fans.

They've got to see George Best play
fantastic every week.

That's a difficult burden to carry.

I think we all just depended on him,

and expected him to do it week in
and week out.

Once the football was...

the enjoyment of that was taken
away,

I started looking for things
to replace the excitement

that I got from football.

He was the star of the club scene,
and a bit of a pop idol.

His fondness for drink was
bound to become

more than just a leisure activity.

I always thought the only
time he took a drink was to bolster

his confidence. He was so shy, and
George found it difficult

to talk to people.
But a drink made him confident.

It was the '60s. People were
drinking, you know,

he was drinking, I was drinking. And
it just gradually became a problem.

You want more and more and more,
there's no satisfaction.

Why do you want more? Because
you're not satisfied.

Why are you not satisfied?

Because you're seeking happiness
in things

that can't give you happiness.

You know, like alcohol, or sex,
or whatever the thing is,

when you become addicted,
there's no happiness there.

He started missing training.

That was a nightmare, a disaster,
all the things you want to call it.

George had a few pals in Manchester,

and a couple of pals that were
United fans,

that should have known a bit better
and maybe given him a kick up the

backside, and said, "You should be
in training.

"It's important for Manchester
United, it's important for you."

I'm saying, blame his pals,

but then you can only point the
finger at one person at the end,

and that's George.

And it was downhill
on a toboggan after that.

It wasn't as if it was a slow
downhill, it was...

The white one with
the brown, and, er...

Stripes at the bottom, please.
We've got them with their ties on.

At the beginning when I was with
him, he would go to training.

But then gradually, he started
to miss training.

And I mean sometimes, I'd get Matt
Busby on the phone ringing up,

saying, "Is George with you?
And he's not turned up,

"and isn't it time you two
got married?"

And all this kind of thing,
you know.

I'd say, what do you what me to do?
You know?

Do you see any kind of permanent
relationship here, Jackie?

I mean, would you like to marry him?

I don't know. I haven't told him, so
I don't see why I should tell you!

Well, if Jackie wasn't
there, it was...

Unfortunately he wasn't the most
faithful animal in the world,

and of course, very difficult
to keep up a relationship where,

from her part,
the trust wasn't there.

And she knew the temptations that
were there for him.

I had a tremendous amount
of relationships,

because I suppose I was in a
position to.

I was getting a lot of publicity, I
had plenty of money,

and I went to the sort of functions
where there were always plenty of
beautiful women around.

He'd gone from being quite a fresh
and sweet boy

to starting to become quite jaded,
and I think, you know,

because of the alcohol and girls
throwing themselves at him.

If you imagine you're in a
sweet shop

and you're eating sweets all
the time, you're going to get sick.

It's fun at first, but then you
get sick.

And I think it became like that
with everything.

He was very fond of Jackie,

and I think it's a pity that
relationship never continued.

Once your trust has been betrayed,
you can't really get that back.

I can't see any future in this.

There was far more focus on him than
any other player in the country.

Once you get that
cross-fertilisation

between football and showbiz, then
you're going to heighten interest

in everything you're up to.

On face value, it looks like you
have everything.

The money's coming in, you're doing
something you love,

the adulation is there.

Best...

Here's the record! There it is!

What a way to come back into
big-time football, Georgie Best!

The whole thing just became a
total nightmare.

They stopped writing about the
football

and writing about my private life,
which is nothing to do with them.

Have you any idea why he didn't do
any training during the week?

I... I really don't know, I don't
know...

Carolyn, are you going to marry
George Best?

No, that was a rumour.

Best's frenetic social life had been
chronicled with the sort of

thoroughness that is usually
reserved for the Burtons.

Many people were at once bored and
fascinated by the saga.

Almost everybody had an opinion
about what was wrong with Georgie,

or what should be done about him.

Do you feel sorry for George Best?

No, not in the least, no.

Got plenty of money, hasn't he? He's
been very silly, I think.

I think he's selfish, and always
has been.

Be better if he got his hair cut and
got his whiskers off.

That's my opinion of him.

You ask most of the people who come
to Old Trafford, George Best,

all the time.

It was the constant changes
of managers

that was getting to the fans,
not so much George.

It was like, "not another manager".

Frank O'Farrell, what are your
feelings as you take over this job?

I feel optimistic. I feel that
inevitably,

this club will again win honours.

How soon I can't say at the present
time, obviously.

The stability went, and I think
that's what the fans saw,

not that George is the big bad boy.

It hurts me a lot, when I listen
to stories.

On one occasion, I was standing
having a drink with one man,

and he was actually ridiculing
George to me,

in a football conversation.
And he left the bar that night,

and he still didn't know that I
was George's mum.

He brought a lot of pressure on
the family.

He brought them a lot of pressure
that they didn't know how to handle.

And I think George was hurt
about that.

The effect it has on your family,
when you become famous.

My poor old mother couldn't
handle it.

My dad, he's as strong as an ox, and
he's got a strong character,

but my mum couldn't handle it.

And for a long time I blamed myself,
I thought it was me.

But I'd been away from home since
I was 15,

and I certainly couldn't look
after her,

because I was having enough problems

looking after myself,
and failing most of the time.

The Best family, they were
absolutely wonderful people,
beautiful.

They had to face part of that, which
was not very pleasant for them.

No-one at Old Trafford has seen
George Best

since Manchester United's 3-0
defeat at West Ham last Saturday.

Other members of the team have been
training daily,

but there's been no sign of
the talented

but temperamental Irishman.

The announcement of
Best's suspension

was made by United's general
manager, Sir Matt Busby,

at the club's ground at Old Trafford
at lunchtime today.

Friday morning, hadn't heard a
thing.

Saturday, Sunday and this morning.

In fact you've no idea where he is,
Sir Matt?

I couldn't tell you whether he was
in Manchester

or whether he's in England, London,
I couldn't tell you.

I've had no contact.
He's made no contact.

And as I said to all the lads this
morning, he knows where to find me.

The door's there waiting for him.

I'm not going looking for
George Best.

If Matt Busby hasn't been prepared
to chase after George Best,

there have been plenty of
journalists who have,

and after a search which has gone on
in London and Manchester all day,

it's at last been established that
he's here at this flat in Islington,

north London. It's the home of a
22-year-old actress, Sinead Cusack.

And it's known that over the last
few days,

she's listened to a lot of
George Best's complicated

and apparently
incomprehensible troubles,

the troubles that have given rise
to such strange conduct

over the last few days.

It turned into one of
those mad sieges.

It wasn't planned.

I think he just said, "Where am I
going to run to?"

And that's where he went, but
everybody followed him there.

It was no mad, crazy love affair
or anything.

He got frustrated and angry
with the team,

and angry with himself for not being
able to do what he could do best.

But then, we're drinking now,
we're seriously drinking now.

First of all, he's got to find out
who his friends are.

Do you think he's made mistakes...?

I think that he's got so many
hangers-on, it's a joke.

And I tell you what, when you've got
genuine friends and when you're in

trouble, you can go to them and
they'll help you.

And you need a lot of help in
football.

And at the moment,
George Best needs help.

I don't think he showed the same
respect to football as he showed,

maybe has shown,
a couple of years ago.

It's come to a point now with
George, he's reached the apex,

he's got to go either that way or
that way.

Yes. And I think he'll have to work
very hard to go that way.

Right, George, you have your
say, son.

Well, firstly, I've apologised to
Mr Busby and the United club,

for the way I behaved over
the weekend,

which was completely wrong, and I
know it was.

You're going to have to serve
this suspension,

and you say you're taking a couple
of days off.

Are you confident that when this
time has passed, you'll be back,

George Best that we knew before?

Well, I'm going to try,

try as hard as I can, to get back to
where I was before.

Probably the first big mistake you
made was ever to leave

Mrs Fullaway's house and have your
rather expensive

and spacious place...

Do you think that's true,
looking back?

It wouldn't have been true if I
hadn't, at the time,

been public property.

The first time I saw it, I thought,
my God, what have you had built?

It looked awful. But
God, it's nice inside.

It had everything that a young bloke
would want, snooker room,

every modern gadget you could wish
to have.

Bearing in mind, we'd only just had
colour television a couple of years

earlier, you know. So, anything that
moved without you touching it

was an amazing thing.

The remote control in our house
was my mother.

Very nice for its time.

It was wonderful, but for him there
rattling about on his own,

not really.

He didn't like his own company.

He didn't like to be on his own.

How do you say, I think you're
making a mistake?

He wanted this house to have a quiet
time and be by himself.

But he did lots of things
which really was the opposite

to what he had been saying he
really wanted.

You know, he always told me that he
didn't like people recognising him,

and yet he had a Rolls-Royce with GB
on it, you know, George Best!

And he actually would take it to
the football stadiums as well!

He never really sat down and said,
what do you think?

What do you think we should do?
Do you think we should...?

How do you think we should
play this?

It was always...
He always seemed to know,

and always seemed to have
that vision

that he knew what he was doing.

And very difficult to get him out of
that frame of mind.

That's when he really went off
the rails.

Got fed up, properly.

"I'm going."

He went off saying he was going
to retire.

I mean, God Almighty! He wouldn't
be 25 in those days, George.

I mean, he loved playing football.
That's what astonished me.

He loved playing football,
he loved playing for United.

And then it all of
a sudden, stopped.

We went to Marbella, and all the
press were hounding him.

Too dramatic a way to do it, really.

He should have been a bit more
subtle about it.

It seemed as if someone had taken my
enjoyment away from me,

and taken away the only thing
that I'd ever wanted to do.

I got totally confused,

because possibly everything had gone
too smoothly,

and I'd achieved everything before
I was 22.

I think I'd become used to being
number one so much

that it frightened me to think that
I couldn't be number one.

What sort of pressures do you feel
that you've been under?

I don't know, a lot of
different reasons.

I feel now like I can't play as
I could before.

So, I don't want to play a lower
standard than I'm used to myself.

And I don't think I can play to a
high standard, so I decided to quit.

Why not? Why can't you play at a
high standard any more?

Er... I don't know.
Because I'm not physically fit

and I don't think I'm mentally fit
to play football.

So I've decided to
call it a day.

What's caused it, basically?
Strains, pressures, tensions?

I suppose so. Over this last few
years, they've got worse, and, er,

maybe I just can't take it.

I built the image in the first
place, and it backfired on me.

The whole thing's turned about.

At the moment, how would you
describe your mental state?

Er, at the moment, I think I'm a
complete wreck.

In every way.

He didn't know where to go.

He was lost. He really was lost.

A few of his friends were concerned

that he might have done
something terrible.

We were concerned for him, yes.

Have you absolutely nothing to say
to us?

Nothing at all?

No plans at all that you're going to
tell us at this stage? No.

It was never the same for George, I
don't think, after Matt.

It was never the same for him.

Frank O'Farrell came in,
Tommy Docherty came in.

Everybody tried everything to try
and help him, but...

it was never the same.

It became impossible in the end.

George was saying that they were all
letting him down,

but I mean, it was George.

Sir Matt and Pat Crerand felt that
George could do us a turn,

which I did as well,

because we weren't blessed with
great players at the time.

We brought him back, and it was a
disaster, actually.

He played about three or four
matches, and...

He'd just gone.

Not being as fit as he should be,
not training like he should be.

That's always going to affect you.

And the minute that affects you,
forget it, it's gone.

And that's what happened to George.
It was gone, then.

And you knew it was the end.

I feel very sorry about the
whole thing.

Here is a player extraordinary.

All the talents that one would wish
they'd got from the gifts of God

and everything else.
And it's a very sad thing.

I had 11 years at one of the
greatest football clubs

in the world, and achieved almost
everything that was possible.

We won the League twice,
won the European Cup,

I was Footballer of the Year
in Europe and England.

I was Manchester United's leading
goal-scorer for six years.

I did it all at the highest level
for a long time.

So you'd be an idiot not to be hurt.

There was a finality about it
for him.

Although there would be a lot of
other chapters after that,

he wasn't entirely wrong in
thinking that, in a very real sense,

the curtain had come down.

It was a curtain that he'd only be
peeking through afterwards.

TVS presents NASL
Championship Soccer.

Not long ago, a dogfight would
attract a bigger crowd

in this country than a soccer game.

But something has happened.

His name is Johan Cruyff...

Franz Beckenbauer...

A retired Brazilian football player
named Pele...

Almost anywhere you go in this
country these days,

you're likely to find boys AND girls
kicking a soccer ball around.

It is the fastest-growing sport in
the country.

It was a time that has never been
repeated and will never,

ever be repeated,
with such a unique league

that attracted the most phenomenal
footballers from around the world.

By the time George came here, Pele
had already started with the Cosmos,

and they were building a team
that really was rivalling

any superstar team in the world at
the time.

In Los Angeles, erm,
George was the one they chose.

I have a man with me who looks
an awful lot like Elton John.

And behind me, the LAPD motorcycle
drill team.

My spies tell me

you had something to do with getting
a fellow named George Best to come

out of retirement and play for
Los Angeles. True?

Er, I don't think I can take hardly
any credit for that,

but I know George knew I was
involved with,

you know, with the club.

And he came out here. I'm so glad.

It was great for him, because
George came out of retirement,

came out here, got himself fit.

I think it's improved him as
a player, and it's incredible.

I was still only 29 when I went.

Players like Johann Cruyff was
there, Beckenbauer, Pele, Eusebio,

Gordon Banks. A tremendous amount
of British players.

I got the pleasure of playing
against him, watching him,

and then in the end playing
with him.

I mean he had obviously past his
best but he was still better than

everybody else, and to play in the
same team as him, what a gift.

When we first got there we rented
a house.

We were team-mates, roommates,

there was a little bar just round
the corner

and the name of the bar
was Fat Face Fenner's Falloon,

and we used to hang out in there.

I didn't go there to LA on that day

expecting to sign George Best
as a client.

I just said to him, you're going to
need some help,

and I'm happy to do it if you want.

And he said yes. So I became
George's agent in 1976.

From a commercial point of view,
basically, you've touched gold.

He was a lovely fella.

And women just flocked around him
like bees on honey.

It was quite an unbelievable
experience to see it.

I mean, you see it with pop stars
and you kind of expect it,

but he was a pop star in
his own right.

And...along came this girl that was
a little bit different.

I'm working for Cher, living with
her in Beverly Hills.

We get a phone call to the house
from a man

called Henry Wynberg, I think it
was, Elizabeth Taylor's boyfriend

at the time, and says George would
like you to come

to his party in Hermosa Beach.

So he picks me up, drives me down
Hermosa Beach.

There's no party.

There's George in his flip-flops and
his shorts and his T-shirt

and there's me all dressed up!

And he's sitting at the bar all
by himself.

So I thought, "Ah, sweet."

She was a challenge.

She didn't fall all over him and
she didn't know who he was

and she wasn't there because it was
"George Best".

With Ange, she wasn't in it for
the money.

There was none of that involved
because he didn't have anything

at the time.

I said to him, why did you
come here?

He said, because I want to be on the
beach in the sun.

I said, you could have done that in
Spain.

He said no, because the English
press would have found me.

He had freedom.

He goes in his flip-flops to
play football

and then he could finish and go down
to his bar, play pool, have a drink.

That was his happiest.

He said to me, "Listen, what do you
think about me getting married?"

I said, "If you love her, why don't
you do it?"

I thought that would settle him down
and he would stay on the,

or closer to, the straight
and narrow.

I went to the hairdresser.

First, I looked like a school ma'am,

I had this long grey skirt.

I mean, God Almighty.

George said, "What do you
look like?"

I said, "Excuse me? Have you seen
your jacket?"

We both looked hideous.

He didn't have rings, didn't have
licence, had nothing.

But that was George.

And I understood that about him.

I suppose that's where I then took
over and said, "Now, come on,

"we're going to do this properly, or
we're going to try to anyway."

I think Angie straightened him up
and he got fit again

and Bobby was there to help.

But then they opened a bar.

It takes a very strong person to
invest in somewhere

and then not go drink there.

The difference was that his drinking
was a little more than

the average bar owner.

Remember, football is
a drinking culture.

At that time he had no shortage of
helpers, if you like.

If 70,000 men had wanted to have one
drink with George,

they had one drink,
George had 70,000.

In those days it was just, it's
just George being George,

he's had a few, and that's it.

Alcoholism is now termed as
an illness.

We didn't have that kind of
knowledge in those days.

If you had had a few too many,
sleep it off

and you'll be fine tomorrow.

We didn't know the extent of...the
problem.

I cannot for the life of me,

because in my mind,

and, of course, a lot of people
would say "It's a disease."

It's not. It's a choice.

You choose not to drink that day.

A disease doesn't give you a choice.

But alcoholics have a choice.

He would never have admitted he had
a problem.

He didn't see it as a problem.

I don't think there's anything wrong
with any healthy sportsman having a

drink. And going out when he
feels like it,

as long as he's training hard and
doing what he's being paid for

and doing it well.

Most people I could understand would
maybe go off the rails during bad

times, but George had this habit of
going off the rails during the good

times. When things were really good
and everything was going really well

for him, then he had this
self-destruct button.

When things are going well
you're tempted to think, well,

everything is going to be OK, so I
can afford to slip a little bit.

But that little bit, with me,
became a lot.

He had so much going for him.

When he was on a roll, he was great.

Then all of a sudden, it became too
much and he just let himself down.

They didn't want the aggravation,
if that's the right word.

They wanted to trade him.

Who would take the risk of
managing him?

The playing side of it wasn't
the problem.

It seemed that he would always be
able to produce magic

and I think the promise of magic
is something very special.

The promise of magic is what
George Best always brought,

whether it be the glittering
Manchester United

or the other 18 teams
that he went to play for.

Good lord, gipsies, we were gipsies.

Yes, we were gipsies,
but it was fine. I was happy.

As long as I was hanging out
with him,

I couldn't have cared where we
went or what we did.

That's the Best. My goodness,
he hit the post.

Although people were let down at
different times

and the clubs were let down and
chairmen were let down

I think he brought a lot of
happiness to the clubs

and a lot of revenue.

Now and again you would see a wee
bit of the old stuff

and sometimes quite a wee bit of it.

But he looked like a bad
impersonator of George Best.

Then we went to, er...

..Florida.

We knew that there were issues.

We spoke to George about them.

He felt he needed a change
of scenery.

He insisted that he was really
trying to stay sober

and that we would not be
disappointed in his play

or his behaviour.

So it was a gamble, but it was a
risk that we felt was worth taking.

Turning to Fort Lauderdale,
George Best,

of course this is one of the great
stars of world soccer,

a temperamental man, he is not
always at his happiest,

but he seems to have found a new
home in Fort Lauderdale.

He is playing marvellously well
for them.

George struggled with his fitness.

There's no question about that.

During the course of a match you
might have long periods of time

where he was invisible, but when you
got the moments of brilliance

out of him it was worth it.

Kicked over the bar.

He could turn the game on a dime.

I recall the first match that we had
after we acquired him.

We won the game 5-3, and George had
three of the goals.

I think we were able to get about as
much out of George as anyone could.

It is 3-1 Fort Lauderdale.
This is NASL Championship Soccer.

The day that you were traded, was it
a day of liberation for George Best?

I just feel good, the fact that
it's worked out.

I don't think I could have written
a better script.

The only thing I can say is that I
know I can play.

I didn't have to convince myself.

George at the time was doing his
best to stay away from alcohol,

and for the most part he was staying
clean and sober.

He truly was a really good guy.

He was a good guy, that had demons.

You keep thinking that you can
fix it

and that all he needs
is a nice home-cooked meal,

a nice house and to settle down.

But it never quite works like that
when there's alcohol involved.

That was just in his blood.

God love her, his mother was
an alcoholic,

so it was just in his blood.

She, for whatever her own particular
reasons was,

she got involved with drinking
too much.

It was my fault. I should have
been there.

I should have called.
I should have written.

That was a guilt thing I
carried for quite a while.

Whether it is related to me,
or not, I'll never know.

It was another reason to have a few
more drinks.

George, in the end, wore out his
welcome here in Fort Lauderdale.

He could have stayed and played
and been a manager

and done everything David Beckham
is doing.

They threw him out because he
got drunk.

He didn't show up for games.

They couldn't have that.

They didn't know how to deal
with that.

We weren't quite sure what to do
with him

and San Jose said they would take
him. We let him go there.

I don't think there were any other
takers at the time.

Each time he got thrown out he got
less and less of a choice.

"Dude, you want to make some money?

"You are going to play here.
Nobody else wants you."

The time I got to San Jose,
all the top players started to leave

the States, the crowds were down,
the best players were leaving.

All the reasons I had gone there
for the buzz were disappearing.

I started really, that was
the serious down, in San Jose.

I was begging, stealing, borrowing,
just to have a drink.

It's that knock-on effect
of depression and booze.

You feel self-destructive.

Two weeks before going on a bender,
he would sleep late,

he would start to eat a lot of
sugary foods

and he would stop shaving.

And that would kind of be the
build-up to...gone.

What caused that was this...black
taking over his brain.

I'm sure he was depressed at times.

I'm sure he suffered
from depression.

When he let people down, he
suffered.

When he was sober and things like
that he realised what he had done,

I think he found it difficult to
accept his actions.

He would think of the people he'd
let down, the things he'd done...

..and he couldn't deal with that.
And I think, to get away from it...

..from the depression that that
caused him, that guilt,

he started drinking again.

It controlled me totally.

When I was going out I didn't give
a toss about anything,

whether it was family or friends.

The worst problem was that I didn't
care about myself.

You know, I couldn't care less.

I wasn't bothered whether I woke up
in the morning or not.

Sometimes I wished I didn't.

What really struck home was,
I found out I was pregnant.

So I went looking for him.

And I found him at some obscure bar
on the beach, all by himself

with his drink in front of him,
hunched over

with his face almost in his drink,
so I knew he was pretty far gone.

And I sat down next to him and he
looked at me.

"What are you doing here?" And I
said, "I have some news for you.

"You're going to be a dad."

No reaction whatsoever.

He just said to me, "Let me finish
this bender and I'll come home."

San Jose was so good because they
actually made the effort

to put him into rehab and to deal
with him.

Take one.

When things are going badly, it's
always a reason or an excuse

you can say, well, it's a bad day
today, it's raining

or I've just lost money on the
horses, or the business is bad.

You can always find excuses
or reasons for having a drink.

But I was running out of excuses and
reasons,

and things were going so well.

The baby had arrived and our
home was settled

and I had signed a good contract,
but I was still getting drunk

and still going on binges for four,
five, six days, sometimes a week,

where Angela wouldn't know
where I was.

And I think the thing was that I had
look at myself and say,

"You're a mess here, you know,
you're going to blow everything,

"you're a disaster area."

That's the hardest part, to stand
and look at yourself and say to

yourself, "You're no good. You know,
you've got to get better."

So, I know it's difficult to say
what lies ahead in the future,

but if you could choose,

what would you choose for the next
couple of years?

50-50. Six months in America,
six months in England.

And another baby. Oh, you have it!

I wish I could, I'd have
more than one!

Make a fortune as well.

It was a fabulous time.

For me, to be a young woman,
with my man that I was smitten with,

in the sunshine,
in a beautiful place.

And it was magically,
perfectly beautiful.

It was San Jose Earthquakes at
Spartan Stadium.

We had just scored a goal that
should have been ruled offside.

George got into a real heated
dispute with the referee.

Now Best is furious with Ian Foot.

He's going to get a card now.

Best gets a yellow card.
Best will get a card.

Like T Rex with haemorrhoids,
Bestie was going nuts.

The goal stood, so San Jose gets
the ball to kick off.

So concerned with the officiating

that their minds
are really not on the soccer game

and then things start going against
them

and the next thing you know,
there's a goal.

I could hear him. I was lining up
just on the other side of the circle

and, "Give me... Just give
me the...ball!"

He started on this slalom, like
Alberto Tomba going downhill.

Slating through the players.
I'd never seen balance like this.

I think one or two of the players
had two bites at him.

Manoeuvring unbelievably.

Best still has it. I don't
believe this.

That's the greatest soccer
goal I've ever seen!

It was anger, it was inspirational,

it was a demonstration of everything
George had compacted

throughout his career into that
playback, instantly, over time.

That is the greatest soccer goal
I've ever seen.

Oh, man!

Outstanding!

It was still there, but sometimes
it needed a big red-hot poker

pushed into very sensitive place

for George to call on it,
to summon it up.

Talk about an individual effort!

This was a virtuoso
performance by Best.

They'll give him the goal and
they'll give him three assists!

These weren't Maldinis,
I'll give you that,

that were defending against him,

but you go through seven or eight
players,

you ask anybody that's played
the game,

that's an elevation of skill that is
just staggering,

jaw-dropping genius.

That was really flying.
I've never seen one close to that.

George Best.
He did it all by himself.

A soccer genius.

We hope you've enjoyed all the
action that led to the Budweiser

Goal of the Year. To soccer fans
everywhere, this Bud's for you.

I think it was a special banquet
that was put together

and George's goal had been given
the Budweiser Goal of the Year.

It was a nice night.
It was really my night.

And I hadn't had a drink
for 11 months.

And I left the presentation with my
trophy and put it in the car

and I went and got drunk in a bar.

Then went for 22 days on a binge.

Oh, there were so many sad bits, but
I realised it was over...

I always wanted to look after
him, but enough is enough.

I can't look after both babies.

The big one's got to go.

After that, George drank every
single day for 30 years.

That's all I know.

I think George was looking
for a high.

Playing football in front of
all of those

thousands and thousands
of people.

And I think when that stops, there's
kind of like a void in your life.

In the end he didn't want to
stop drinking.

Or couldn't.

At one o'clock today,
my father has passed away.

Not only have I lost my dad, but
we've all lost a wonderful man.

And I'd just like to take the time
to thank all the well-wishers

and the fans, and the letters,
and the flowers, and the e-mails.

It all means so much to all of us.

And that's all I have to say.

Thank you very much.

The Belfast boy who came to
Manchester United

with magic in his feet and
a self-destruct button in his soul

died just before one o'clock
this afternoon.

His was a life of bright talent,
darkened by drink.

I never went to see him in hospital.

I didn't really want to do
that anyway.

I didn't want to see George as he
was, you know.

I wanted to remember him as a person
that I played against

and also had as a great friend.
Simple as that.

I couldn't go and see him in
hospital. I couldn't do it.

Remembering George for what he was,
and all that sort of thing.

And you knew that he was a goner.
We knew that he was going to die.

That was a certainty, that he was...

Ach, it was just sad.

Sad.

I always feel as though we let
him down.

He needed someone to say to him,

"George, this is what we'll do,
this is what we should do.

"Let's get a plan and let's follow
it through. Let's do this."

And there was nobody really...that
he respected enough,

with the right plan.

It's impossible, of course, to tell
the George Best story

only in terms of his spectacular
talent on the field.

Off it, his was a life besieged
by alcoholism.

Drink brought him trouble with
managers and with the law.

He even served two months in prison
in 1984 for drink-driving.

But he couldn't stop.

I married George when I was 23.

He had a vulnerable side

and it was almost as though you just

felt like looking after him,

like looking after a little child.

George, sober, was the most
fantastic husband you could ask for.

But, unfortunately, when he was
drinking

it was like two totally
different people.

And the sober George wouldn't have
particularly liked the drunk George.

It was a demon.

You know, that's why they call it
the demon drink.

Terry, I like screwing, all right?

All right!

So, what do you do with your time
these days?

Screw. I see.

Ladies and gentlemen, George Best.

George swears blind that they spiked
his drink, but he would do.

It shows him in the light, that
the people who don't like him

would like to see him.

A drunken womaniser,
and that's all he came over us.

And that isn't the sharp,
smart Bestie that I know.

Fortunately that night, he
was a happy drunk,

but he wasn't always a happy drunk.

George could be particularly violent
with drink inside of him.

It could get pretty bad at times.

He could become quite aggressive.

It was...

It was not nice to witness.

A couple of times, you know,
we did have a few fights.

And I did end up in hospital
a couple of times.

She picked me up at the airport and
she had a black eye.

I said, "Babes, what is that?"

They'd both been drunk, had a fight
and he punched her.

And I said, I tried to warn her,
I said, "Alex, what are you doing?"

But, you know, when you're in love,
you're in love.

It was only really when George
became sick with his liver disease

and we moved to Northern Ireland
that I had a proper husband.

We did everything together.

We decorated the house together.
We went shopping together.

It was absolutely fantastic.

Deep down, when I knew that he was
going to get a liver transplant,

there was kind of like a little
inkling, thinking,

I really do hope that this is,
you know, for ever,

that he doesn't ever, ever
drink again.

He had his new liver,
he's got a beautiful wife,

he's got his whole life to live for
now, because he's been saved.

And yet he goes back to the alcohol.

We went to Switzerland with some
kids that had transplants.

And there was this lady there,

she had had a glass of wine
in her hand,

and George looked and
he went, well,

"She's drinking wine,
but she's had a transplant."

Even after the terrible warning from
the doctors

that one more drink could kill him,
the press tracked him down

to a Surrey Pub,
and he fell off the wagon.

It's one of the saddest
things George ever told me.

After he hadn't drank, I think it
was about three years,

and he had started
again and we were sitting down

and I said, "What happened, George?"

He said, "Do you know what?"

He said, "There's not one day in
the last three years

"that I hadn't thought
about drinking,"

which I found really sad, because
I thought he was doing so well.

It was kind of like watching a soap
opera untangle

right in front of you.

And people find that interesting.

And the more pressure it was
putting on George,

the more he drank and the worse it
got.

Yeah, it was a tough one.

There was no doubt that there were
times when he had done things wrong

and all the rest of it, and we
cashed in on it.

We made a lot of money out of the
newspapers,

because they wanted to use him
anyway

and I was firmly of the opinion that
if they were going to use him,

they were going to pay us.

I actually took the picture which,

I certainly regret doing it now,
you know, it was done for a reason.

We had a contract with
the News of the World to do a story

with them, when we came home, so it
was money, really,

and George was quite happy to show
the world what drink had done.

I never ever believed

that that would be the last picture
taken of George.

It was tremendous to see the respect
of the people of Northern Ireland.

It must have been something between
a quarter of a million,

half a million people, out on the
road. And George would have loved
that.

He would have envisaged that as a
proper send-off.

They named an airport after him.

Staggering, really,
for a footballer.

Everybody in Northern Ireland was so
proud of George at the end

of the day. And that was one of the
saddest things,

because nobody thought George would
go in the direction that he went in.

And he was just so well liked.

Sad, isn't it, when somebody
kind of...

..sabotages themselves really.

But not wilfully, obviously.

I mean, I think he was a victim of
his excess.

Everybody had wanted him
to do better.

Everybody had tried to help him.

But he wanted to do it his way and
he wanted to live it on his terms

and burn the candle all too quickly.

He came up with the expression,
"Just remember me for my football."

Because he had to find a reason
to deflect away from

who and what he had become.

What would you want people to
think of you?

Well, I know what they will think.

They'll forget all the rubbish when
I'm gone

and they'll remember the football.

It's as simple as that.

You know, I don't give a toss about
everything else.

As long as they remember
the football.

And if only one person thinks I was
the best player in the world,

that will do for me, because
that's what it was all about

as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, that's a forlorn hope.

I mean, none of us is entitled
to ask for that.

To think people can look upon it as
a career perfectly executed

would be madness.

You've just got to hope that the
glorious stuff in George's career

far outweighs and outshines the
rubbish and, to me, it does.

And George Best going
through here!

Yes, it must be for George Best!

Georgie Best has done it!

I remember once in the hospital
in America,

there was an Irish guy had become a
counsellor,

and had been dry for
something like 20-odd years.

And he said, the way I looked at it
was like you have got a choice

of switching the light off or on.

He said it sounds oversimplified,
but that's it.

And one day he said, you'd better
decide whether you want the light

to keep shining or you want to
switch it off.