George Best is widely regarded as a brilliant footballer - one of the best in the world - with a troubled life. A European Cup and Ballon dOr winner with Manchester United, the Northern Ireland international had all the skills and panache to be at the top of the game.
Best visited Australia four times between 1967 and 1990, the first time with Manchester United ahead of their European Cup win as the biggest football star in the universe, the last time as a supernova. As early as Bests second visit in 1983, journalist Andrew Dettre wrote that Bests visit to Australia "must surely...be considered rock bottom" for a man of his talents. Despite the popular view that Bests tours down under were all about drinking and women, Lucas Gillard and Jason Goldsmith go behind-the-scenes to talk with people who knew him, who played with him, and who knew there was much more nuance, complexity, and back story to the man than the archetypal celebrity footballer the media preferred to present.
