4) George Best:
Described by The Irish Football Association as the "greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland", George Best started his Manchester United career at the ripe young age of 15 under the tutelage of the boss, Sir. Matt Busby. One of the best dribblers the world has ever seen, Best scored no less than 179 goals for Manchester United and was the club’s top goal scorer in the league for five consecutive seasons.
During his playing career, this genius earned countless plaudits and was always a crowd favourite but underneath all the showboating on the football field hid a very dark side, one of alcoholism, women and controversies aplenty. Quoting George Best on his career, "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds (women) and fast cars – the rest I just squandered.” With Best unable to best his demons, one of the greatest footballing careers that could have been was ended prematurely at the age of 27 in 1974. What is, even more, heart breaking is owing to a lack of fitness and Northern Ireland’s performance in general, El Beatle never got to play in the finals of a major international tournament.
Those who have seen Best play in his prime are today testimony to what the world missed and what could and should have been!
