Soccer legend George Best will have his picture printed on bank notes issued in Northern Ireland.
The Ulster Bank announced Thursday it will issue one million five-pound notes ($10.65 Cdn) to honour the Northern Ireland soccer star.
Dickie Best, father of the late soccer legend George Best, holds a print of the new five-pound note.
(Peter Morrison/Associated Press)
"This is the first time that Ulster Bank has commissioned a commemorative bank note and by limiting the print run to a million notes, we feel this makes the initiative even more significant," Ulster Bank chief executive Cormac McCarthy said.
The bank notes, which will depict Best in his Manchester United and in his Northern Ireland shirt, will commemorate the first anniversary of his death on Nov. 25, 2005. Best died at the age of 59 following decades of alcohol abuse.
Best is widely considered the greatest British-born player in the history of the game.
Renowned for his slalom-like dribbling skills, devastatingly accurate passing ability and memorable goals, Best rose to fame as a member of Manchester United in England.
He scored 178 goals in 466 games from 1963-74 for United, helping the club win two English league titles and the 1968 European Cup, the forerunner to today's Champions League.
He won the Ballon d'Or, Golden Ball award, as the European player of the year and was voted English player of the year in 1968.
He also played in the North American Soccer League for the Los Angeles Aztecs, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and San Jose Earthquakes.
Best was named one of the 125 best living soccer players in Pelé's 2004 FIFA 100 list, the 100 figure referring to the 100th anniversary of soccer's world governing body.
He played 37 times for his country but because Northern Ireland was far from being a powerhouse, he never had the opportunity to play on soccer's greatest stage: the World Cup.
His prodigious talent and showmanship made him a cultural icon in Great Britain. Dubbed by some "the fifth Beatle" for his long hair and good looks, Best led the extravagant life of a Hollywood celebrity and was known for gambling, womanizing and heavy drinking.
Best often recalled the story of how a bellboy entered his hotel room early one morning only to find the Manchester United star lying in bed drunk with the then Miss World at his side, a dozen bottles of champagne on the floor and several thousand pounds of cash won from a night's gambling on the nightstand.
"Tell me, Mr. Best, where did it all go wrong?" the bellboy asked him, echoing the sentiments of an entire nation who felt he was frittering away his precious talent.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds [women] and fast cars — the rest I just squandered," Best quipped.
