Son speaks out about George Best's downfall

George Best's son Calum has spoken about the tragic downfall of his father.

Calum Best, 28, is presenting a documentary about how children are affected by having an alcoholic parent.

He told BBC News: "What I've learnt on this documentary is that alcoholics anyway are inherently selfish. I think an alcoholic, their brain tells them to push all the important things aside. To push the loved ones and the important things and focus on that next drink to fuel that illness.

"What upset me was thinking my father had a choice to not drink, but I think he'd been drinking for so long and he was so ill he didn't realise he had a choice."

Best died in 2005 after a long struggle with alcohol.

The wayward sporting genius, who was one of Manchester United's most famous names and British football's first superstar, quit the game when he should have enjoyed years more at the top.

Famed for spending his nights propping up the bar at nightclubs and leaving in the early hours with beautiful blondes on his arm, he walked out of top class football in 1972.

His mother Ann drank herself to death in 1978. By then Best was playing in California where Calum grew up.

In 1984, he served two months of a 12-week jail term for drink-driving and assault on police.

Best underwent a liver transplant in 2002, after waiting months for a suitable organ.

But in July 2003 he appeared to go off the rails and started to drink again, to the frustration and fury of his wife Alex.

During the years that followed the collapse of his marriage, he cut an increasingly shambolic figure before his untimely death at the age of 59.

Sourced from: The Belfast Telegraph