London, November 20:

George Best’s family was at his bedside last night as the football star lay unconscious on a life-support machine in a London hospital.

The former Manchester United star is critically ill in intensive care with a severe lung infection. He was put on the support machine early yesterday morning, when his condition deteriorated. Best’s son Callum, sisters Barbara and Carol, brother Ian and brothers-in-law Norman and Alan were with him at the Cromwell Hospital, where he is on a drip and attached to a ventilator.

Widely acknowledged as the best British player in history, Best, 59, has severe medical complications linked to his years of heavy drinking. “Mr Best remains seriously ill in intensive care on a life-support machine,” said hospital spokesman Jeffrey Brandon. “The reason he was brought back into intensive care was a lung infection. He is serious.”

Dr Akeel Alisa, one of the medical team looking after the Belfast-born star, said Best was critical but stable.