George Best
THE GEORGE BEST CONNECTION
This is where my family research has overlapped into football and a most amazing connection has been established.......
Soccer player George Best starred for Manchester United and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on May 22, 1946, soccer great George Best began his club career with Manchester United in 1963. He helped United win the First Division title in 1965 and 1967, and in 1968 he led his club to a European Cup triumph. That year he also tied for the First Division lead in goals, and was named both the European Footballer of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. A hard-partying lifestyle led to a quick decline, and after leaving United in 1974. Best played out his career with various clubs in England and the U.S. He died of causes related to alcoholism in 2005
Best also starred for Northern Ireland's national team, but his love of the nightlife took its toll, and he was finished as a top-shelf player by the time he left United in 1974. Attempted comebacks with smaller clubs in England, the U.S. and Scotland were unsuccessful. Following years of alcoholism that led to a liver transplant in 2002, Best died at London's Cromwell Hospital on November 25, 2005, from multiple organ failure.
At the end of 2014 and early 2015 I was corresponding with a lady, Julia Nixon, regarding an enquiry I had received from her about a possible family connection with the Coulters.
George's Mum to the left with twin sisters, Julia on the left, with Belfast singing star Ruby Murray. Member of Cookstown staff in the background, at the Ideal Home Exhibition, Balmoral, Belfast, early 1960's
My Uncle Ivan Bell was responsible for the George Best marketing campaign....The "Best Family Sausages" /"Cookstown sizzler" in the 1960's. Sales in the following years increased dramatically!
This CONNECTION TO GEORGE BEST has occured through his family researching sister Julia. This has been one of the highlights, during my years of family research!