The body of football legend George Best is being flown into RAF Aldergrove airport today in preparation for one of the biggest funerals ever witnessed in Northern Ireland.
The body will be waked overnight at the Best family home in east Belfast tonight. The Northern Ireland Office, Castlereagh Council in east Belfast, the PSNI and several other agencies have put in operation the plan for the huge funeral.
While only about 35,000 people will be allowed into the Stormont estate tomorrow to witness the cortege make its way along Prince of Wales Avenue to Parliament Buildings, tens of thousands more will line the funeral route to pay their last respects to the former Manchester United star.
The front gates of Stormont estate will open at 9am and will be closed as soon as the grassy area to the left and right of the avenue is full.
George Best's immediate family will join a group of about 300 mourners for the televised service in the marbled great hall of Parliament Buildings, with the Rev Pastor Roy Gordon officiating.
Stormont workers were busy yesterday preparing for the funeral. Giant screens were being erected so that mourners gathered in the grounds could see the service live.
People attending the funeral either along the route or in the Stormont estate are warned by St John's Ambulance to dress for December conditions. Castlereagh Council has also warned that there will be no parking within two miles of Stormont but that there will be park-and-ride facilities to bring people to the funeral route.
A private funeral service will be held at the Best home at 9.30am, attended by the wider Best family and close friends of the family and footballers. The cortege is due to leave the house about 10am, arriving at Stormont for about 10.45am.
Five former Northern Ireland footballers and a Manchester United great will carry the coffin from the front of Parliament Buildings to the 60 steps leading to the entrance of the building.
Billy Bingham, Peter McParland, Derek Dougan, Harry Gregg, Gerry Armstrong and Best's close Scottish friend Denis Law will shoulder the coffin.
For safety reasons undertakers will carry the coffin up the three sets of 20 steps. There, members of the family will carry the coffin into the great hall of the building. The coffin will be lifted by George's son, Calum; George's brother, Ian "Busby" Best; Norman McNarry and Alan McPherson, who respectively are married to George's sisters Barbara and Carol; George's friend and agent, Phil Hughes; and Dr Akeel Alisa of the Cromwell Hospital team in London that treated Best.
Among those expected to read tributes will be the leader of the hospital team, Prof Roger Williams. Denis Law and George's sister, Barbara, will also read tributes. Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton and other members of past and present Manchester United teams are also flying in for the funeral.
Brian Kennedy is expected to sing Best's favourite song, Vincent, by Don Mclean, while Peter Corry is due to sing Bring Him Home from Les Miserables.
