A never before seen collection of photographs and memorabilia of George Best, the legendary Irish footballer, has been found in Manchester, England this week.

Mike Preston found the photographs, taken by his father Derek, and thousands of negatives when he was clearing out his late father's house. He even found a strip belonging to one of the greatest footballer’s of all time.

Derek Preston took the photos of Best in his prime in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
“It really is an unbelievable collection,” he told the press. “We think it may be the biggest single collection of George photos that exists.” Preston said he had always known his father had taken some photos of Best, but had been unaware of the extent of the collection.

“He was a modest man so he didn't tell us the extent of it,” he said. “There were quite a few photos but there were boxes and boxes of negatives. We got a light machine to see what they were and realized they were all of George Best.”

"I wish he had done something with them when he was alive. Some of the pictures are so unique, they are unbelievable. Preston said Best and his father had become friendly after he started taking his photograph in the 1960’s.

“Then, every time he was doing an advert he would ask for my dad to take the pictures,” he said. Preston, a father-of-two, now plans to auction the number 11 Northern Ireland shirt and display some of the photos on a website.