Best destined to end up a loser in the biggest match of his life
Greats from both sides of Manchester's football divide had joined high-ranking businessmen at a dinner with a dual purpose to honour Best, and to raise thousands of pounds for the Liver Research Foundation whose experts had been widely credited with weaning him away from alcohol.
Then came the news that Best has been arrested for assault after an incident at a hotel bar in Surrey and that he had started drinking again.
The wayward spirit of the kid from Northern Ireland became apparent just two days after he arrived at Old Trafford as a fresh-faced 15-year-old but got homesick and went home.
Of course Best was persuaded back and the rest, on the football pitch at least, was history in the making. He made his debut at 17 and swept irresistibly to glory; leading his club to its first European Cup triumph in 1968, and was crowned British and European player of the year months later.
With film star looks and unlimited money, Best could have anything and anyone he wanted and he took it all.
He partied into the early hours, lent his name to fashionable boutiques, and famously boasted he had slept with four Miss Worlds.
But as the shining star faded, he was accused of defending wife-beating, suffered the break up of his first marriage and spent time in prison.
By 1970, the public were becoming increasingly aware that the drinking and the late nights were beginning to take their toll. There were signs of impending trouble as he was sent off while playing for Northern Ireland against Scotland in Belfast for throwing mud at the referee.
In January, 1971, he turned up 90 minutes late for an appearance before the FA disciplinary commission which fined him a record stg£250 for three cautions for misconduct.
Four days later, he was suspended by United for two weeks for missing a train taking his team to Chelsea.
As Best's career nose-dived so his wild ways spectacularly increased, and United placed him on the transfer list in 1972.
In 1978, Best's mother died of drink and steeled by that and an arrest for drink-driving in California, he sought the first of many cures.
He had pellets inserted in his stomach which he was told would put his life in danger if he drank, but three months later he was back on the bottle. In 1984, his football money all gone, he served two months of a 12-week jail term for drink-driving and assault on police.
In October, 1990 he famously caused a storm by spouting a string of obscenities on Terry Wogan's TV show. He claimed next day that the BBC had plied him with champagne for hours before his sozzled outburst.
He recovered sufficiently to hold down a promising relationship with Mary Shatila and was expecting to marry her, but in 1994 he fell for a 22-year-old Virgin air hostess called Alex Pursey, and one year later he had married her instead.
In 1998, Best joined Sky Sports as a football pundit but off screen his problems were worsening. They caught up with him in March 2000 when he was admitted to a hospital in London suffering stomach pains.
He moved to the fishing village of Portavogie, County Down, to escape life in the capital, but in February 2001 he contracted pneumonia.
His life finally seemed to be heading on the right track when he underwent a liver transplant just over a year ago, but now the news that Best could have fallen off the wagon is merely the latest chapter of a saga without a happy ending in sight. He conquered Benfica, but Best seems destined to end up a loser in the biggest match of his life.
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