Belfast braces for half a million mourners

Belfast will give George Best the kind of funeral normally reserved for royalty on Saturday. Up to half a million people are expected to turn out to pay their respects to the city's most famous sporting son, born on a humble housing estate, in the biggest funeral in Britain since the Queen Mother was laid to rest three years ago.

Some of soccer's greatest names, including the manager of Best's former club Manchester United, Alex Ferguson, will fly in for a ceremony that will be relayed to the multitudes gathered outside Northern Ireland's grandiose parliament buildings.

"It is expected several hundred thousand people will turn up to Stormont to mourn the passing of George Best," said Castlereagh Borough Council chief Adrian Donaldson.

Because of the damp, wintry conditions, only 30,000 people will be allowed into the 164-acre estate that overlooks Belfast.

Thousands are expected to line the three-mile funeral route from Best's family home to Stormont. All 3,000 hotel rooms in Belfast have already been booked.

Best, a footballer mentioned in the same breath as Pele and Diego Maradona, died of multiple organ failure in a London hospital last Friday after years of heavy drinking.

The tributes that have flooded in since the death of Best, a Protestant, and the anticipated turnout are testament to his immense popularity, one that crossed Northern Ireland's sectarian divide.

The Best family home has been turned into a makeshift shrine. Flowers, football shirts and scarves cover every inch of the garden and footpath outside.

Best will be buried beside his mother Ann in the family plot in Roselawn cemetery. The family have asked the public and media to stay away from the cemetery.