Best destined to end up a loser in the biggest match of his life

THE rich, but desperate irony was there for all to see when Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling, playing compere for the evening, rose to his feet in Old Trafford’s plush Manchester Suite and announced to the expectant throng of 900 that George Best would not be in attendance because he was too ill to travel.

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.