The Magnificent Sevens. Frank Worrall
July 2002 – almost cost him his life as he underwent 10 hours of major surgery and needed 40 pints of blood during the transplant operation. When he recovered enough to be allowed home, George would vow never to drink again – and he also hit back at those who had criticised him being given a second chance, saying, ‘I would never say to anybody you don’t deserve to live, no matter who they are. As for calling this self-inflicted, I didn’t decide one day that I would drink myself to death. It is as a result of alcoholism. I know myself I will never drink again. The only reason I would is because I want to kill myself or I want to go through this again – and I don’t want either, so there’s no reason to drink.’
He added that he was grateful to the anonymous donor of the organ, and that he did feel guilty that someone else had to die for him to survive. He also expressed hopes for a bright future and said he was planning to have children with wife Alex as soon as he was feeling better.
They proved to be fine words, but no more; in his war against alcoholism, the final battle was looming and he was facing defeat. It was not long before he was back on the booze – and then the chaos would once again set in. Affairs resulting in a split from Alex, talk of punch-ups and debts – it was as if he were reliving the Sixties. Only now he was burnt-out, haggard, physically destroyed – the game was almost up for George Best, one of the most seminal figures in international football, now widely described in newspaper reports around the planet as ‘Britain’s most famous alcoholic’. It was the ultimate, sad footnote to the demise of a genius.
Irony of ironies – and one George, a keen observer of topical events and a talented exponent of crosswords and puzzles, would have enjoyed – a day after he died, the Government passed a law allowing bars to stay open 24 hours. He would also have appreciated the level of devotion and love apparent at his funeral when he made the final journey back home, although, no doubt, George being George, he would also have been a little embarrassed by all the fuss.
That just about sums him up – a man who could not live with the fame his genius brought, but also could not live without it. A complex, beguiling character … at the same time, gentle and bullying, generous and spiteful and loving, but feeling unloved. In his last interview before he died, he would ask to be remembered only for the joy he brought to those on the terraces at Manchester United, saying, ‘When I’m gone, people will forget all the rubbish and remember only the football.’ He was asking a lot of us all – but then he also gave us a lot on the pitch, didn’t he? Thanks always for those treasured footballing memories, Georgie-boy….
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