Our George: A Family Memoir of George Best

by Barbara Best

It's a story everyone knows - or thinks they know. The story of the young boy from the back streets of Belfast, who grew up to be the greatest footballer the world has ever known ... a legend who was the first superstar of the sport, but whose troubled personal life, as much as his sporting genius, came to dominate the headlines.
This book reveals for the first time the real story of the real George Best, as told by those who knew him best and loved him most. It's the inside story of the 'ordinary' Belfast family, whose love for, and contact with, their famous son and brother never wavered through the years. It's the story of a family desperately helping him as he battled the illness that also claimed the life of their beloved wife and mother.
Our George is a searingly honest and frank book about the influences that moulded the legend - and the demons that haunted his life. Speaking for the first time, the intensely private Best family (who have previously turned down massive tabloid offers to tell their story) reveal how George really felt about the people and the events that shaped his life.
Despite the fact that they are a very private family, the Bests are adamant that this book should be open and truthful. Our George not only confronts George's own failings and those of some of the people who were close to him, but it also reveals the many pressures he was subject to.
The book is illustrated with a wealth of unique unseen family photographs, documents and correspondence (much of it deeply poignant) between George and his family.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

233 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2007

Reviews

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cant believe that co incidently I finished this on his birthday. Have always loved George since about 1966.Will read anything about him

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone ever suggested I'd be reviewing a book about a
footballer, I would have thought they were crazy - don't think
I have even seen a full game since I was in my twenties. But I
always had a soft spot for George Best - in the late 60s he
seemed to be everywhere, definitely in the teen mags like Fab
and Jackie etc there were so many competitions were you could
win a date with him. Who knew he was then on a destructive
roller coaster ride to nowhere!!
Not a biography but a memoir of how his enormous fame and his
highs and lows affected his close knit Irish family. The opening
chapters are a very harrowing account of his death but the thing
that stood out for me was the way his siblings banded together
to shield their 87 year old father from the press who had proved
brutal in the past but fortunately now took a few steps back to
give the family it's dignity. The old father didn't need protection
and was determined not to distress George by any out pouring of
emotion.
A terrifically written book by Barbara Best, one of George's
younger sisters - she is a natural born story teller. She
effortlessly weaves from the early life of the parents, their
marriage and financial struggles as they patiently waited years
for government housing (not much has changed!!). There was
poverty, but good times with the family always there for one
another - and when times seemed bleak, always the fish and chip
shop down the road (how well I remember times like those)!!
There is a photo of George at 15 months - his concentration and
ball skills even from that photo are amazing. George's father
Dick took the photo when he turned round and saw little George's
way with a ball and all through George's youth he tried to teach him
all he knew. Dick had been a bit of a champion in his time as
well - times were tough on the docks and whenever the bosses
found out Dick was a union man he was always the first to be
laid off and often not reinstated so he had a lot of time on his
hands, which he spent, not at the pub, but kicking a ball around.
Later in his life George was just as well known for his love affairs
as for his football but teenage George was an exemplary school
pupil and had a very high I.Q as well as a love of crosswords.
Apparently later on he actually joined MENSA - under a false name.
Barbara also recounts what they didn't know at the time, that
George was not looked after by Manchester United when he first
left home at 16 to perform in some trials. She says that George,
who had barely been out of Belfast, now had to find his own way
from Manchester Station to his hotel and then on to Old Trafford.
The story is that George and his mate (both of whom looked puny
and lanky) told the cabbie that they had been selected for Man. U.
trials, the cabbie took one look at them and said "Of course you
have" very sarcastically.
Yes, he was one of the world's greatest footballers but to a
teenage girl (Barbara) remembering the infrequent visits home as
her brother became more famous -also the little things like being
escorted by George to get the best Steak Diane in town only to
find that the restaurant was shut and discovering Majorca which
was to become the destination for the jetsetters and "beautiful
people".
Saddest part was the death of their mum - an alcoholic even though
she had only started drinking 10 years previously, she died in
her 50s. This is when the book really comes into it's own - even
though Barbara found it difficult to accept and understand at the
time, the book tries to reason out what went wrong, not accepting
the simplistic view that the pressures of George's fame got to
much for her. Barbara feels she may have been going through
menopause and she also had three small children born almost 12
years after Barbara - just the huge stress of having yet another
family to bring up as well as coping with reading about George's
many incidents - life may have become too much!
If you're looking for a detailed biography about George Best,
keep looking - this is mainly about George's family, their highs
and lows and the differences that were forgotten during troubled
times.