George Best and Manchester United: the story behind the break-up
As the ‘ghost’ assigned to write George Best’s newspaper column in the early 1970s, journalist John Roberts was in an enviable position as Best’s career at Manchester United began to unravel. With unparalleled access to football’s original superstar when Best first walked out on United in 1972, Roberts enjoyed exclusive, inside knowledge -- perfect material for a book about those turbulent years in the Irishman’s life. Those unique insights are published this week. But should you be wondering how it took almost 40 years for Roberts to reveal the secrets he knew about an extraordinary story, The Sports Bookshelf can reveal that it didn’t. Sod This, I'm Off to Marbella - George Best , published on July 1 by Trinity Mirror Sport Media, enjoyed a brief life -- under a different title -- in 1973 but while there was undoubtedly an audience that would have lapped it up, the book effectively failed to reach them. “It was published independently as George Best: Fall of a Superstar