Tens of thousands to see off Best at Stormont funeral

Published on Monday 28 November 2005 14:50

FOOTBALL legend George Best's funeral will be held at Stormont to allow tens of thousands of fans to pay their final respects.

East Belfast MP Peter Robinson said the move was in recognition of the enormous outpouring of affection for the former Manchester United winger since his death on Friday.

Best's funeral on Saturday will be the biggest ever seen in Northern Ireland, and the star's family is currently finalising arrangements with Castlereagh council. But concerns were raised today that Best's body may be delayed because of police fears over the huge number of people expected to turn up to pay their respects when his body is returned to Belfast.

The star's agent, Phil Hughes, had planned to fly into the city on Wednesday. But the plans are likely to be changed amid concerns that Belfast could grind to a halt as fans prepare to pay their respects.

Mr Hughes said: "Police are very concerned we will close Belfast down if we arrive on Wednesday." Football fans across the country held a minute's silence before weekend matches for a player many believe to be the greatest British footballer ever.

At Easter Road yesterday, prior to the game between Rangers and Best's former club Hibs, thousands of fans ignored calls for silence and instead paid tribute by applauding and cheering.

Best's body will leave his father's Cregagh Road home at 10am on Saturday morning.

The cortege will then travel the short distance to Stormont where the 11am service in the Grand Hall will be relayed to thousands of mourners outside. The sprawling estate, which is home to the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, was viewed as the most suitable venue as it has previously hosted major open-air concerts. Afterwards, Best will be buried beside his mother Annie in the hill-top Roselawn Cemetery, overlooking east Belfast.

Mr Robinson, the Democratic Unionist Party's deputy leader, said: "I very much welcome the decision of the Best family to have the funeral at Stormont.

"It is an acknowledgement of the tens of thousands of loyal supporters who want to say their last goodbyes and pay a final tribute to someone I regard as the greatest soccer player ever.

"I hope in return that the public, and particularly the press, will direct their activities towards Stormont and give the Best family space to have some private grief themselves."

On the potential scale of the funeral, the MP said: "Nobody is clear on the numbers that will attend but it is very clear from the reactions of supporters at grounds across the UK in the last 48 hours that there is going to be a massive show of sympathy to the family.

"There will be many thousands, tens of thousands - no-one is quite sure how many - who will want to personally express their tributes to George."

Meanwhile, fans at United's Old Trafford stadium and in Belfast continued to pay their respects.

Flowers, football shirts and scarves piled up outside the stadium and at the gates of Belfast City Hall, where books of condolences have also been opened.

Tributes were also laid outside Easter Road stadium yesterday, where Best played for a season in 1979.

More tributes have been left outside the Best family home in the Cregagh area of east Belfast which Best left as a teenager to seek fame at Old Trafford.

He died on Friday, aged 59, after a long battle with alcoholism.