George Best

Belfast Telegraph 06/05/2015 reveals that he was born Ronald Samuel Best. The page has an image of his birth certificate.

George Best

From WIkipedia:

George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968 he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. The Irish Football Association described him as the "greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland".

Born and brought up in Belfast, Best began his club career in England with Manchester United, with the scout who had spotted his talent at the age of 15 sending a telegram to manager Matt Busby which read: "I think I've found you a genius." After making his debut for United aged 17, he scored 179 goals from 470 appearances over 11 years, and was the club's top goalscorer in the league for five consecutive seasons.

One of the greatest dribblers of all time, his playing style combined pace, skill, balance, feints, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders.Best unexpectedly quit United in 1974 at age 27, but returned to football for a number of clubs around the world in short spells, until retiring in 1984, age 37. In international football, he was capped 37 times and scored nine goals between 1964 and 1977, although a combination of the team's performance and his lack of fitness in 1982 meant that he never played in the finals of a European Championship or World Cup.

Best was one of the first celebrity footballers, earning the nickname "El Beatle" in 1966, but his subsequent extravagant lifestyle led to various problems, most notably alcoholism, which he suffered from for the rest of his life. These issues affected him on and off the field, at times causing controversy. He said of his career: "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds [women] and fast cars – the rest I just squandered". After football he spent some time as a football analyst, but his financial and health problems continued into his retirement. He died in 2005, age 59, due to complications from the immunosuppressive drugs he needed to take after a liver transplant in 2002. Best was married twice, to two former models, Angie Best and then Alex Best. His son Calum Best was born in 1981 from his first marriage.

Before he died, Best was voted 8th in the World Soccer 100 greatest football players of the 20th century election in 1999 and was voted 16th in the IFFHS World Player of the Century election in 1999. He was one of the inaugural 22 inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004 he was voted 19th in the public UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll and was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Former Brazilian footballer Pelé stated, “George Best was the greatest player in the world". Best was once quoted as saying, “Pelé called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life.” After his death, on what would have been his 60th birthday, Belfast City Airport was renamed the George Best Belfast City Airport. According to the BBC, Best was remembered by mourners at his public funeral held in Belfast as "the beautiful boy" [with a] "beautiful game".

Early years and family

Best grew up on the Cregagh estate, east Belfast

George Best was the first child of Richard "Dickie" Best (1919–2008) and Anne Best (née Withers; 1922–1978). He grew up in Cregagh, east Belfast. Best was brought up in the Free Presbyterian faith. His father was a member of the Orange Order and as a boy George carried the strings of the banner in his local Cregagh lodge. In his autobiography, Best mentioned how important the order was to his family. Best had four sisters, Carol, Barbara, Julie and Grace, and one brother, Ian (Ian Busby Best). Best's father died on 16 April 2008, at the age of 88, in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, Northern Ireland.[15] Best's mother Anne died from alcoholism-related cardiovascular disease in 1978, at the age of 55.

In 1957, at the age of 11, the academically gifted Best passed the 11 plus and went to Grosvenor High School, but he soon played truant as the school specialised in rugby. Best then moved to Lisnasharragh Secondary School, reuniting him with friends from primary school and allowing him to focus on football. He grew up supporting Glentoran and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Personal life

During his early years at Old Trafford, Best was a shy teenager who passed his free time in snooker halls. However he later became known for his long hair, good looks and extravagant celebrity lifestyle, and appeared on Top of the Pops in 1965.

He opened a nightclub called Slack Alice on Bootle Street in Manchester in 1973 and owned restaurants in the city including Oscars, on the site of the old Waldorf Hotel. He also owned fashion boutiques, in partnership with Mike Summerbee. Best's cousin Gary Reid, a member of the Ulster Defence Association, was killed in 1974 during an episode of serious rioting in east Belfast.

"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life."

Best married Angela MacDonald-Janes on 24 January 1978 at Candlelight Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, having met in the United States when Best was playing for the Los Angeles Aztecs. Their son, Calum, was born in 1981, but they separated the following year and divorced in 1986. His niece by marriage is actress Samantha Janus, who is the daughter of Angie MacDonald-Janes' brother.

He married Alex Pursey in 1995 in Kensington and Chelsea, London.[86] They divorced in 2004; they had no children. In 2004 she alleged that Best was violent towards her during their marriage, an issue that was, in fact, covered in Best's authorised 1998 biography "Bestie" in which Alex claimed that Best punched her in the face on more than one occasion.[87] Earlier in the book it is revealed that he struck another of his girlfriends at least once and was arrested and charged with assault 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, as acknowledged in his book, Scoring at Half Time.

At the peak of his career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Best advertised Cookstown sausages on television with the phrase "the Best family sausages". In 2007 a memorial plaque was placed outside the pork factory in the County Tyrone town.

Best had a cameo as himself in the 1971 British comedy film Percy. In 1984 he made a fitness album with Mary Stävin called Shape Up and Dance. A biographical film entitled Best was released in May 2000, with John Lynch portraying George Best. Indie rock band The Wedding Present named their first album George Best, and featured Best on the cover wearing his red Manchester United kit. After his death, Brian Kennedy and Peter Corry released a single entitled George Best – A Tribute. Best features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series; he was included in the FIFA 16 Ultimate Team Legends.

In 2007, GQ magazine named him as one of the 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years. When Best played football, salaries were a fraction of what top players earn today, but, with his pop star image and celebrity status, Best still earned a fortune. He lost almost all of it. When asked what happened to the money he had earned, Best quipped: "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds (women) and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

Alcoholism

"I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak. Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town."

Best suffered from alcoholism for most of his adult life, leading to numerous controversies and, eventually, his death. In 1981, while playing in the United States, Best stole money from the handbag of a woman he did not know in order to fund a drinking session. "We were sitting in a bar on the beach, and when she got up to go to the toilet I leaned over and took all the money she had in her bag."

In 1984, Best received a three-month prison sentence for drunk driving, assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail. He spent Christmas of 1984 behind bars at Ford Open Prison. Contrary to popular belief and urban legend he never played football for the prison team. In September 1990, Best appeared on the primetime BBC chat show Wogan in which he was heavily drunk and swore, at one point saying to the host, "Terry, I like screwing". He later apologised and said this was one of the worst episodes of his alcoholism.

Best was diagnosed with severe liver damage in March 2000. In 2001, he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. In August 2002, he had a successful liver transplant at King's College Hospital in London.[10] The transplant was performed at public expense on the NHS, a decision which was controversial due to Best's alcoholism. The controversy was reignited in 2003 when he was spotted openly drinking white wine spritzers. On 2 February 2004, Best was convicted of another drink-driving offence and banned from driving for 20 months.

Death

Best continued to drink, and was sometimes seen at his local pub in Surbiton, London. On 3 October 2005, Best was admitted to intensive care at the private Cromwell Hospital in London, suffering from a kidney infection caused by the side effects of immuno-suppressive drugs used to prevent his body from rejecting his transplanted liver. On 27 October, newspapers stated that Best was close to death and had sent a farewell message to his loved ones. Close friends in the game visited his bedside to make their farewells, including Rodney Marsh, and the two other members of the "United Trinity", Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. On 20 November the British tabloid News of the World published a picture of Best at his own request, showing him in his hospital bed, along with a warning about the dangers of alcohol with his message: "Don't die like me".

In the early hours of 25 November 2005, treatment was stopped; later that day he died, aged 59, as a result of a lung infection and multiple organ failure.

Tributes were paid to Best from around the world, including from arguably the three greatest football players ever, Pelé, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff. Maradona commented: "George inspired me when I was young. He was flamboyant and exciting and able to inspire his team-mates. I actually think we were very similar players - dribblers who were able to create moments of magic." Famous for his quotations, fellow Manchester United legend Eric Cantona gave a eulogy to Best: "I would love him to save me a place in his team, George Best that is, not God."
The Premier League announced that a minute's silence would be observed before all Premier League games to be held over the weekend of his death; however at many grounds a minute's applause broke out in his honour. The first match at Old Trafford after Best's death was a League Cup tie against West Bromwich Albion, the club against which he made his debut for Manchester United in 1963. The match, which United won, was preceded by tributes from former team-mate Sir Bobby Charlton. Best's son Calum and former team-mates, surviving members from the West Brom team which he played against in his debut, all joined the current United squad on the pitch for a minute's silence, during which fans in every seat held aloft pictures of Best, which were given out before the match.

Funeral

His body left the family home at Cregagh Road, East Belfast, shortly after 10:00 UTC on Saturday, 3 December 2005. The cortege then travelled the short distance to Stormont. The route was lined with around 100,000 mourners. Former Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, international team-mates Derek Dougan, Peter McParland, Harry Gregg, Gerry Armstrong and Denis Law were the first to carry the coffin to the base of the Stormont steps. There was an 11 am service in the Grand Hall attended by 300 invited guests relayed to around 25,000 mourners inside the grounds of Stormont. Best's brother Ian, agent Phil Hughes, Dr Akeel Alisa, who treated Best, and his brothers-in-law Norman McNarry and Alan McPherson, were also pallbearers. As the cortege left Stormont, the Gilnahirk pipe band played. The funeral was live on several television stations including BBC One. Afterward, Best was cremated, and his ashes were interred beside his mother Annie Elizabeth Kelly in a private ceremony at the hill-top Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east Belfast.

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via father Richard Best by SmartCopy: Nov 11 2015, 14:02:55 UTC