George Best’s family home goes on market

THE terraced house where footballing legend George Best grew up has been put up for sale.

The modest three-bedroom property in east Belfast’s Cregagh Estate will go on the market today with an asking price of £165,000 (€209,000).

The sale of 16 Burren Way follows the death of George’s 88-year-old father Dickie earlier this year.

The former shipyard worker had lived there for more than 60 years, first moving in with wife Anne when George was just two.

The former Manchester United star, who died in 2005 after a long battle with alcoholism, learned how to kick a ball in the back garden and on the nearby playing fields. His father had lived alone in the house since George’s mother died in 1978.

As one of the most famous addresses in the north, with a plaque on the front wall to prove it, it is expected to generate a lot of interest despite the slump in the local housing market.

George’s sister Carol MacPherson said she was sad to have to say goodbye to the family home.

“When we were very little George and I used to share a bedroom,” she said.

“As we got older he was given the room all to himself and after he left it was used by other family members, but was always vacated when George returned home to visit.

“It was always known as ‘George’s room’ and our mum never let us forget that. It was a very happy home and my father lived there for nearly 60 years, but we all have our own houses and it was a stipulation of dad’s will that the house should be sold on his death.”