George Best is a football player.
George Best ( 22 May 1946 -- 25 November 2005 ) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team . In 1968 , he won the European Cup with Manchester United , and was named the European Footballer of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year . The Irish Football Association described him as the `` greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland '' . Best was one of the first celebrity footballers , earning the nickname `` El Beatle '' in 1966 , but his subsequent extravagant lifestyle led to various problems , most notably alcoholism , which he suffered from for the rest of his life .