Pitch where George Best started out to be protected forever

The football pitch where George Best first kicked a ball is to be protected forever, Belfast City Council said.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Aug 2017, 13:52 BST
Updated 12th Sep 2017, 11:22 BST
Footballing icon: George BestFootballing icon: George Best
Footballing icon: George Best

Cregagh Green is the spot in the centre of a housing estate in the east of the city where Best's talent first flourished as a schoolboy in the 1950s.

He was a prodigy who went on to become one of the world's greatest footballers of all time, a marauding presence with Manchester United and the Northern Ireland international team.

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Organisers at the Green have been awarded £5,000 by the London Marathon Charitable Trust (LMCT) to help promote physical activity and community participation.

Cllr Adam Newton of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee receiving a plaque from Terry Housden (Development Manager for Fields in Trust South East England & Northern Ireland) on East Belfast's Cregagh Green, the football pitch where George Best first kicked a ball.Cllr Adam Newton of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee receiving a plaque from Terry Housden (Development Manager for Fields in Trust South East England & Northern Ireland) on East Belfast's Cregagh Green, the football pitch where George Best first kicked a ball.
Cllr Adam Newton of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee receiving a plaque from Terry Housden (Development Manager for Fields in Trust South East England & Northern Ireland) on East Belfast's Cregagh Green, the football pitch where George Best first kicked a ball.

Best inspired the Old Trafford outfit to win league titles and the European Cup while still a young player.

But his career at United was cut short following a battle with alcohol, the pressures of stardom and global fame.

Cregagh Green is the first project in the UK to be awarded funding by the LMCT as part of The Active Spaces Forever programme, delivered in partnership with Fields in Trust to protect and activate outdoor recreation spaces.

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The open space will now be protected "in perpetuity" through a legal deed of dedication between Belfast City Council and Fields in Trust.

George Best. Photo: PacemakerGeorge Best. Photo: Pacemaker
George Best. Photo: Pacemaker

Councillor Adam Newton of Belfast City Council said: "It means that this valuable green space which has a unique association with one of our most famous sons, George Best, will be safeguarded, and that we can encourage more local people to follow in his footsteps and get active in Cregagh Green."

Since 1981, The London Marathon Charitable Trust has funded a huge range of projects which have inspired millions of people to get active.

It said Cregagh Green had become the first in the long list of inspiring projects which will be permanently protected through funding from The Trust enabling local people to enjoy the benefits of physical activity into the future.

Related topics:Belfast City CouncilManchester UnitedOrganisers