Sir Alex Ferguson pays respects to Billy McNeill at funeral

May 3, 2019

Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Kenny Dalglish and David Moyes joins thousands of mourners paying their respects to Celtic legend Billy McNeill at the Lisbon Lion’s Glasgow funeral

Celtic legend Billy McNeill was laid to rest in Glasgow on Friday morning
His funeral was attended by a number of Scotland’s biggest footballing names
Sir Alex Ferguson travelled to Celtic Park to pay his respects to the great McNeill

Sir Alex Ferguson was among the mourners gathering to pay their respects to former Celtic captain and manager Billy McNeill.

McNeill’s funeral is being held at a church in Glasgow city centre before the cortege makes its way to Celtic Park, where thousands of supporters are expected to pay tribute.

McNeill’s body was taken to St Aloysius Church on Thursday evening ahead of a service at 11.30am on Friday morning.

Sir Alex Ferguson was in attendance as thousands gathered to pay respects to Billy McNeill

The former Manchester United manager collected an order of service before the funeral began

Sir Kenny Dalglish, who worked with McNeill at Celtic, arrived at the service with his wife

Ex-Rangers managers John Greig and Walter Smith came to pay respects to the Celtic icon

McNeill, standing with the European Cup in 2014, lost his battle with dementia last week

A picture of the cover for the funeral’s order of service shows a close up of the Celtic legend

Some streets in the city centre and east end of Glasgow will be closed, with fans expected to line the pavements to pay respect.

Former Rangers striker Ferguson was among those to arrive at Celtic Park, where buses were waiting to transport mourners to the church.

Ex-Rangers managers Walter Smith and John Greig and former Celtic players Frank McGarvey, Frank McAvennie and Tom Boyd arrived at a similar time.

Former Celtic player Charlie Nicholas arrived as he paid tribute to close friend McNeill

Former Celtic managers Gordon Strachan (right) and Martin O’Neill (middle) attended

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish (left) was among the arrivals before going to church

Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers returned to the club to attend McNeill’s funeral

David Moyes made the trip north to Glasgow to pay his respects to the legendary McNeill

Sir Kenny Dalglish, who hailed McNeill as a real influence on him during his early days at Celtic, was in attendance along with ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers and former Everton, Manchester United and West Ham boss David Moyes.

McNeill, who won 31 trophies as player and manager for Celtic, died last week aged 79 after suffering from dementia in recent years.

In a statement earlier this week, McNeill’s five children extended an open invite to fans to pay their respects.

They wrote: ‘The love and affection shown towards our father is nothing short of amazing.

‘Our father always made time for the fans and knew how important they are so we would like to send an open invite to help us pay our respects to him.

‘His body will be taken into St Aloysius Church on Thursday evening at 6.30pm, with the church staying open for a short while after the service.’

While he only represented Celtic as a player, McNeill went on to manage Aberdeen, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

From an Aberdeen standpoint, manager Derek McInnes and chairman Stewart Milne were in attendance to represent the Dons.

A giant screen was erected outside Celtic Park whereby mourners who would not be inside the church for the funeral could watch the service through a livestream at the stadium.

Aberdeen were represented by manager Derek McInnes (L) and chairman Stewart Milne (R)

Current Celtic manager Neil Lennon arrived wearing a dark suit and a Celtic club tie to match

Scotland internationals Kieran Tierney and Scott Brown, Celtic’s captain, arrived in the suits

The Celtic players gathered as a group before collecting the order of service on going in

Celtic boss Neil Lennon insisted he wanted each and every member of the current Hoops side to be in attendance to honour one of the club’s biggest icons.

Full-back Kieran Tierney was pictured arriving shortly after his manager wearing a dark suit and a club tie while his team-mates were said to have gathered inside for the service.

Lennon said earlier this week: ‘I want the whole squad to be there. I want the playing staff and the staff to be represented there.

‘I am sure it will be like a state funeral, with tens of thousand of people.

‘Last Saturday was inspirational and this will be the same. I think it will be good for the players to see just what Celtic means to the fans and vice versa.’

A flag was placed around the neck of McNeill’s statue which stands outside Celtic Park

McNeill was Celtic’s iconic leader during glory years under Jock Stein in the 1960s and 70s

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