George Best - 'The Fifth Beatle'

Legendary footballer George Best, who was labelled as "The Fifth Beatle", was also considered by many as the most naturally gifted footballer Britain has produced, due to his agility, balance, vision, superb close control, and the ability to create chances and score from seemingly impossible situations.

The boy from the back streets of Belfast who loved the game, was also catapulted into a world of models, trendy nightclubs and late-night drinking.

Best became the first football superstar, after making the headlines with his glamorous women, pop star looks and bad-boy antics, paving the way for future icons such as Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham.

After Manchester United's 5-1 win over Benfica, in the quarter-finals of the European Cup in Lisbon, on March 9, 1966, the Portugese press  proclaimed the forward as "O Quinto Beatle", "The Fifth Beatle."

That designation stuck with him and he later stated: "I was 19 or 20 when The Beatles were at their peak and I was coming up to the peak of my career, too.

"I was also the first footballer to have long hair and that's how I got my nickname 'The Fifth Beatle."

Beach bum

Manchester United won the European Champions cup in 1968 and Best won  the European Footballer of the Year award in the same year, at the age of 22.

However, the striker's drinking lifestyle began taking its toll and he even admitted he could not even remember where he ended up, following a drinking binge after the European final.

Best was emulating the same life style of  other popular icons in the music world, but  they did not have to get up to train and spend 90 minutes running around a football pitch and the footballer was, at times,  too hung-over to turn up for training.

In January 1974, Best missed a training session after a late night, ahead of an important away match against Chelsea, with manager Matt Busby looking out of the window in vain for his star player. The striker felt, that day, his career was over.

He later left United, following constant disagreements with new coach Tommy Docherty, who often criticised his playboy lifestyle.

As parties and late nights went on, his career continued slumping at clubs including Fulham, Hibernian, as well as in South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States, and the player, who once had world at his feet, even bought a beach bar in California.

"I became a beach bum. I was in the bar every day and every night," Best later said.

Final years

The star striker eventually returned to Britain, arriving at Heathrow in 1981 with one suitcase, £1,000 and "not a clue about what I was going to do."

Best continued to hit the bottle over the next 20 years, and he was told one more drink could kill him when he underwent a liver transplant in July 2002.

Despite vowing to stay dry, Best embarked on a drinking binge within months of the life-saving surgery.

One of his last  public appearances was in February 2004, and he was in the dock.

The acclaimed striker, who made 361 league appearances in Red, scoring 136 goals, and who holds the post-War record for the most goals by a United player in a single match – six against Northampton Town, in an 8-2 FA Cup fifth-round mauling in the 1970 FA Cup, died  in November 2005.