Who the hell's George?

If you go to Belfast by plane, you'll land at the George Best Airport, the only one airport in the world named as a football player. But George Best isn't just a football player, he is a legend, we are talking about "the fifth Beatle".

In the 1963 Bob Bishop, a talent scout for Manchester United, sent this telegram to the United manager Matt Busby: "I think I've found you a genius"; Best was an amazing footballer: he could dribble, strike on goal and do takles...he was the perfect player.

Why was he called "the fifth Beatle"?

40 km far away from manchester, in a place named the Cave, four guys (I'm sure that you know their names, they were going to be the "Fab Four") had put toghether chords and lyrics never heard before and were changing the music world. Best was "the fifth Beatle" because he had the same look and play of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr.

In Belfast people still say: "Maradona good, Pelè better, George...BEST!", he was a special player but he ruined is life. He died when he was 59 years old with the liver devastated by alcohol; on the other hand he had always said: "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered" .

George had also a lot of girlfriends and sometimes he chose the wrong one; for example he was arrested and charged with assoult on a waitress, Stevie Sloniecka, in November 1972, when he fractured her nose in Reuben's nightclub, Manchester. He was successfully defended when the case reached court in January 1973 by barrister George Carman QC, a close drinking companion of Best.

Frank Evans, a former business partner of Best, claimed in his 2009 book, The Last British Bullfighter, that Carman offered a Manchester gangster "pots of cash" in 1973 to break Best's legs when he discovered that Best had been having an affair with his second wife, Celia. Carman's offer was rejected with the following warning by the gangster: "I don't sort out domestic disputes and I'm not going to harm George [Best]. So you can take your money and go somewhere else. But I'll tell you this – if any harm comes to George I'll know who did it and I'll come after you."

As i've alredy said he died 59 years old, but he is still an unforgettable fottballer because he played in a way never seen either before or after.

In the end I'll leave you another amazing Best's quote:

"If I had to choose between dribbling past 5 players and scoring from 40 yards at Anfield or shagging Miss World,it’d be a hard choice. Thankfully, I’ve done both."

George Best (1946 - 2005).