The funeral takes place at Stormont in Belfast on Saturday 03 December, and is expected to be one of the biggest ever seen in Northern Ireland, with up to 500,000 people expected to line the route to Parliament Buildings.

Many sporting stars, including team mates from Manchester United's European Cup winning side of 1968, together with current representatives of the club, are expected to attend.

United have also reached agreement with the BBC to screen the event live in Manchester's Exchange Square at lunchtime.

Throughout last weekend tributes were made at football grounds across the UK, with Manchester United players, fans and staff joining West Ham in a minute's applause at Upton Park.

On Saturday, a minute's silence was held at Irish League matches in honour of the east Belfast man and the CIS Cup Final between Glentoran and Linfield scheduled for the day of the funeral has been put back to 10 December.

Best made his League debut for Manchester United against Burnley in 1963 when he was just 17 and he was still a month short of 18 when he first lined up for Northern Ireland in a full international.

The Belfast-born player was Footballer of the Year in 1968 and then European Footballer of the Year after helping Manchester United to become the first English club to win the European Cup in 1968.

In all, he appeared in 361 League games for United, scoring 137 goals and winning the Championship twice. He was capped 37 times.

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick said last week: "George Best's imprint on our national game will never fade - he was truly one of the great players."