Northern Ireland tribute as sport stops in show of respect to Queen Elizabeth II

The Irish Football Association confirmed further tributes have been planned for Saturday’s Nations League game in Belfast against Kosovo.

Messages of condolences and tributes were paid from across the world of sport on the day of the Queen’s state funeral.

Former England football captain David Beckham remembered a “unique, inspirational and caring leader”.

After the Queen was laid to rest at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, Beckham posted his own tribute on Instagram.

“Our Queen is home. Today we said a final farewell to Her Majesty The Queen. This week the world has mourned the loss of a unique, inspirational & caring leader,” Beckham said. “People from all walks of life came together in their thousands to show gratitude for our beloved Queen.

“Alongside the incredible ceremony and tradition we have watched a loving family grieve for a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother with dignity and dedication.

“Her legacy of service and devotion to duty will endure. Long live the King.”

Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury posted a video online, in which he said: “I’ve been off social media for the last 10 days mourning in respect for our Queen who’s died.

“I hope the funeral goes well, condolences to the full family and may she rest in heaven for eternity.”

Premier League teams and the English Football League paid tribute over social media. Top-flight football resumed over the weekend, with teams honouring the late monarch through moments of silence, specially-designed programmes and other tributes.

Racing, the Queen’s favourite sport, originally had meetings scheduled at Leicester, Warwick, Hamilton Park and Wolverhampton but cancelled after the funeral date was announced.

A number of figures from that sport were in attendance at the funeral at Westminster Abbey, including the Queen’s racing manager John Warren, who on Saturday described the Queen’s “remarkable ability to get so much pleasure out of any horse, no matter what level that horse was able to achieve”.

Warren continued: “If we had done our best, if we were able to get the equivalent of a D student a C grade with best endeavour, that itself was tremendous.

“The horse had the last word and that’s what was fascinating for the Queen.”

The Queen was patron of numerous sporting institutions including the Football Association, British Olympic Association, the MCC and the Commonwealth Games Federation.