BELFAST, Dec 3: Tens of thousands turned out in Belfast on Saturday to bid farewell to George Best, Northern Ireland’s local lad turned soccer legend who died last week after losing his battle with alcoholism.

Best, who was mentioned in the same breath as soccer greats Pele and Diego Maradona, died of multiple organ failure on Nov. 25 after years of heavy drinking.

His sister, Barbara McNarry, paid tribute to “the beautiful boy of the beautiful game” during a funeral service at the province’s Stormont parliament building.

Best’s body was taken by hearse along the three-mile (five km) journey from his family’s modest Belfast home to Stormont’s white-pillared grandeur.

Thousands lining the route in pouring rain applauded the slow moving funeral cortege, as Best’s native town gave the former Manchester United winger the type of send-off normally reserved for royalty.

Some of soccer’s greatest names, including Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, attended the ceremony which was relayed on giant screens to around 30,000 people in the grounds of the Stormont estate that overlooks Belfast.

His son, Callum, choked back tears as he read two poems in memory of his father.

Other sporting guests attending the service included England soccer manager Sven Goran Eriksson, Northern Ireland boxer Barry McGuigan, and former Northern Ireland goalkeeper Pat Jennings.—Reuters