After George Best's retirement, he went through serious problems of alcoholism leading him to controversies and his sad demise. He was arrested in 1984 for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer. After Best's successful liver transplant in 2002 at King's College Hospital, London due to his excess drinking routine, he became a victim of another controversy while spotted drinking white wine spritzers in the open.
George requested the British tabloid 'News of the World' to publish a picture of him in his hospital bed with his message - “Don't die like me”. He took his last breath in the early hours of 25 November 2005 after suffering from a lung infection and multiple organ failure. The legendary football player rests beside his mother Annie Elizabeth Kelly at Roselawn Cemetery..