Belfast statue set to honour legend
Best
 Football
legend George Best is set to be further honoured with a life-size bronze
statue erected in his memory.
The statue, funded by subscriptions from fans of the Manchester United
and Northern Ireland star, will be placed in central Belfast, Best’s
home city.
Details of the plans were announced after lengthy discussions on how to
honour the soccer superstar who died in November 2005 aged 59.
Best died from multiple organ failure after a well publicised battle against
alcoholism and a liver transplant but he remains one of the North’s
most popular sporting icons.
Members of his family, Belfast City Council and Stormont officials as
well as sporting and cultural representative bodies were all involved
in planning the tribute.
They will oversee a trust set up to provide the funding which members
of his family believe will be a fitting and lasting memorial to the football
genius.
The statue is to depict Best at the peak of his illustrious career in
a Northern Ireland shirt with the number seven on the back.
Meanwhile the largest and most expensive book ever written about Manchester
United features 10 Irish players on its list of the club’s greatest-ever
players.
The 850-page United Opus is the size of a desk, weighs 37 kilogrammes
and comes with a price tag of up to £4,181.
It features 10 Irish players on its list of the club’s Top 50 greats
with Best and Roy Keane at second and third place behind England’s
1966 World Cup winner Bobby Charlton.
But the Manchester United Supporters Club Ireland said it was unlikely
that even the most dedicated fan would buy it.
“Everyone would probably like to have a copy of it but cost-wise
for the ordinary supporter it’s totally prohibitive,” said
its secretary Eddie Gibbons.
The other Irish players on the list are: Dennis Irwin (20th), Pat Crerand
(21st), Liam Whelan (25th), Norman Whiteside (29th), Paul McGrath (36th),
Sammy McIlroy (43rd), Shay Brenan (44th) and Kevin Moran (46th).
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