George Best: Manchester United and Northern Ireland Football Legend Dies
George Best was a Northern Irish footballer widely considered one of the greatest of all time. Born on May 22, 1946, in Belfast, he joined Manchester United as a teenager.
Best won two league titles and the 1968 European Cup with Manchester United and was named European Footballer of the Year that year. He scored 179 goals in 470 games for the club. He won 37 caps for Northern Ireland but never played in a World Cup finals.
Best struggled with alcoholism, which cost him his career and his liver. He had a transplant in 2002 and died of multiple organ failure at a London hospital on November 25, 2005, at age 59. Belfast's airport was later renamed in his honor.
Achievements: European Footballer of the Year (1968), European Cup winner (1968), 37 caps for Northern Ireland.
Birth: May 22, 1946 - Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Profession: Footballer.
Interesting Facts: His funeral in Belfast drew about 100,000 mourners.
