36 Facts About George Best

1. George Best was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968 and came fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote.

2. George Best won two League titles and the European Cup with the club.

3. George Best was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

4. In international football, George Best was capped 37 times for Northern Ireland between 1964 and 1977.

5. George Best considered his international career as being "recreational football", with the expectations placed on a smaller nation in Northern Ireland being much less than with his club.

6. George Best died in 2005, aged 59, due to complications from the immunosuppressive drugs he needed to take after a liver transplant in 2002.

7. George Best was born on 22 May 1946 and grew up in Cregagh, east Belfast.

8. In 1957, the academically gifted George Best passed the 11-plus and went to Grosvenor High School, but he soon played truant as the school specialised in rugby union.

9. At the age of 15, George Best was discovered in Belfast by Manchester United scout Bob Bishop, whose telegram to United manager Matt Busby read: "I think I've found you a genius.

10. George Best was given a trial and signed up by United's chief scout Joe Armstrong.

11. Days after returning to England, as the First Division's joint top-scorer George Best was presented with the FWA Footballer of the Year award, becoming the youngest ever recipient of the award.

12. George Best won the Ballon d'Or in 1968 after receiving more votes than Bobby Charlton, Dragan Dzajic and Franz Beckenbauer.

13. You know, I'm on one side of the street, George Best is on the other.

14. George Best made a feint to go right which put Book on his backside, before he went left and walked the ball into the net.

15. Highlights for George Best included hat-tricks against West Ham United and Southampton, as well as a goal against Sheffield United that came after he beat four defenders in a mazy run.

16. George Best was playing at inside left in 1972 when he famously walked out on United the first time but was back in the number 11 for the autumn of 1973 before leaving for good.

17. In total George Best made 470 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions from 1963 to 1974, and scored 179 goals.

18. In 1975, George Best played three matches for Stockport County in the Fourth Division.

19. George Best played only three league games, the others against Bohemians and Shelbourne, but despite attracting big crowds he failed to score or impress.

20. George Best returned one last time to Easter Road in 1984, for Jackie McNamara's testimonial match against Newcastle United.

21. George Best played in a friendly for Newry Town against Shamrock Rovers in August 1983, before ending his professional career exactly 20 years after joining Manchester United with a brief four-match stint playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian National Soccer League during the 1983 season.

22. On 29 October 1984, George Best played as a special guest for Reading against the New Zealand national team in a friendly game, alongside 1966 World Cup winner Martin Peters.

23. George Best scored twice, one goal from outside the box, the other from the penalty spot.

24. George Best was capped 37 times for Northern Ireland, scoring nine goals.

25. Largely surrounded by teammates of lesser ability with Northern Ireland than with his club and lower expectations as a result, George Best considered his international career as being "recreational football".

26. On 15 May 1971, George Best scored possibly the most famous "goal" of his career at Windsor Park in Belfast against England.

27. George Best continued to be selected for Northern Ireland throughout the 1970s, despite his fluctuating form and off pitch problems.

28. Highly skilful winger, considered by several pundits to be one of the greatest dribblers in the history of the sport, George Best received plaudits for his playing style, which combined pace, skill, balance, feints, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to get past defenders.

29. George Best 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.

30. George Best owned fashion boutiques, in partnership with Manchester City player Mike Summerbee.

31. George Best 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.

32. At the peak of his career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, George Best advertised Cookstown sausages on television with the phrase "the George Best family sausages".

33. In 2012, George Best was featured in the list of The New Elizabethans to mark the diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

34. George Best spent Christmas of 1984 behind bars at Ford Open Prison.

35. In September 1990, George 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".

36. George Best was flamboyant and exciting and able to inspire his teammates.