Northern Ireland Bids a Tearful Farewell to Georgie Best

BELFAST - Tens of thousands of mourners packed Belfast to pay their last respects to Northern Ireland's favourite son, George Best, at his funeral on December 3. Despite torrential downpours, thousands lined the street and queued for hours to get into Stormont where the ceremony was held.

TENS OF THOUSANDS of people - bearing flags, scarves and football shirts - applauded the cortege as it made its way towards the Parliament Buildings at Stormont where the service was held.

In what came close to a state funeral, Best's coffin was driven from the family's humble home to the splendour of Stormont, the Northern Irish parliament, with the people of the province giving the football legend one last round of applause as the hearse passed by.

Tears were shed along the route as an estimated 100,000 fans from the working-class Protestant Cregagh estate and beyond said a final goodbye to their hero. Former team-mates, ex-wives, dignitaries, fans, admirers and ordinary folk came to say farewell for Best's final journey in a life that took him from the highs of international stardom to the lows of wanton – and equally public – alcoholism.

Best died aged 59 on November 25 from multiple organ failure, after suffering a series of health problems in a London hospital.

Considered the first “pop-star” footballer, Best brought Northern Ireland a dash of glamour and sporting wizardry as it descended towards sectarian bloodshed. His was one of the rare cases where the Protestant and Catholic communities could find unity, in their admiration for the Belfast Boy.

Best is considered as being among football's greatest players, alongside the likes of Brazil's Pele and Argentina's Diego Maradona – except in Northern Ireland, “Maradona good; Pele better; George Best” read a flag at the end of Best's old street.

The Best family held a private ceremony at their small family home on the Cregagh east Belfast estate where Best honed his skills against the terraced house walls. The funeral cortege left from the Cregagh estate, its Loyalist paramilitary murals painted over and flags taken down for the occasion.

Mourners lined the length of the five-kilometre route through east Belfast and up the long drive to Stormont. Best's funeral was the first ever held in the Parliament Buildings. Just 300 guests squeezed into the cream-marbled Great Hall for the funeral, with the service being broadcast to an estimated 30,000 people allowed in the Stormont grounds.

During the hour-long service, former United teammate Denis Law gave a tribute, as did Best's sister, Barbara McNarry, and his doctor, Professor Roger Williams, who oversaw his 2002 liver transplant and eventual decline. His 24-year old son Calum Best read the poem, Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep.

Best was buried next to his mother, Ann, in the Roselawn cemetery in the Castlereagh hills overlooking east Belfast and the fields where he first shone as a footballer.

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