I introduced him to Joan Collins and didn’t see them again’, – Paddy Crerand.
Some of George Best’s former team-mates have joined a campaign to raise £500,000 to make a new film about the Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend.
His Northern Ireland room-mate Pat Jennings and fellow United European Cup winners Alex Stepney and Paddy Crerand regaled fans and potential backers with stories about Best’s drinking, womanising and other everyday normality at Old Trafford on Wednesday night as film producers outlined their plans for George Best: The Movie.
Crerand, who once had Best as a house guest as he tried to escape the pressures of superstardom, drew laughs when he recalled the winger’s magnetism to women.
‘Michael Parkinson was a big United fan. He had a TV programme running in Manchester and he wanted me to go on it. I said as a joke I would only go on if he got Joan Collins,’ recalled Crerand.
‘One night Michael phoned me to say he’d booked Joan Collins. I went on the show, she was a lovely lady but she wanted to meet George Best. So I took George to the television centre, introduced them and never saw either of them again!
‘The first night George stayed with us, my kids said there was a strange man in the bed. I wonder how many houses that was said in.’
Best’s amazing story as the boy from Belfast who became football’s first celebrity before retiring early and eventually dying from alcoholism at the age of 59 has appealed to producers who plan to raise money through crowdfunding, giving fans the chance to star as extras in return for donations.
Jennings quipped that on international duty he sometimes had to stay in the hotel corridor while Best did his entertaining but also gave a glimpse at his other, quieter side.
‘We were the two youngest lads in the team to begin with so they put us together. George didn’t want any special treatment but sadly he couldn’t do the things we did.
‘In Belfast, we’d train in the morning and go round the shops in the afternoon to kill time, but George was grounded.
‘Whenever he went out, there would be people around him for autographs and photographs. Even around the hotel, the kids would chant ‘we want George’. But he had a heart of gold. If someone told him their child was in hospital and would love to meet him, he’d go.
‘He was a really clever lad, well-read and loved his films. He’d often spend time with a book or watching a movie. If we had a quiz among the lads, he’d be the one who knew most of the answers. At United, they said he did the broadsheet crosswords before training.
‘There was a drinking culture in football then but if we went on a night out, I didn’t think George would have more than the rest of us. It was a surprise to me when I heard he had a problem.
‘Later on in my career, I was the subject of This Is Your Life. The presenter Eamonn Andrews got me at the end of the night match when Spurs played Arsenal so we didn’t get back to the studio to start the programme until nearly midnight.
‘I found out later they’d got a substitute guest for George in case he had gone on the drink and couldn’t do the programme. But I have to say he was there, immaculately dressed and looking a million dollars.’
Stepney believes Best would have been the game’s first £100million player if he’d been around today and would probably have enjoyed the freedom of playing more centrally like modern stars Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raheem Sterling, who all started as wingers.
Stepney said: ‘In today’s market he would go way over the £100million barrier. Don’t forget, Gareth Bale plays on a carpet surface. I was in goal when George scored six goals on a mudbath. Could Ronaldo do that?
‘George could have played centrally. If someone tackled him, he didn’t roll over. He had massive thighs and his centre of balance was incredible. He was like a rubber ball.
‘If he’d played today, he would have scored a lot more goals simply because the pitches are better and he’d have had more freedom to play where he wanted. He had the pace to be successful up front.’
It is fair to say that George Best was one of the most talented players to ever grace the beautiful game, his character and charisma made him a true celebrity of the game & he will always be remembered as one of the games GREAT players! Thank you George.