Plans to erect a permanent memorial to George Best in the grounds of Belfast City Hall have been unanimously approved by Belfast City Council.
A proposal to recognise the contribution the football legend made to sport in the North had already been backed.
But with the tribute expected to cost £100,000, the scheme had to be endorsed by Belfast City Council.
No comments were made about the motion during the authority's monthly meeting and it was therefore passed without opposition.
Best , who was named European Footballer of the Year in his prime, is expected to be immortalised in a statue or a sculpture.
Earlier Jim Rodgers, an Ulster Unionist councillor who suggested the memorial, said: "It's now up to the family themselves. They are the key people, not the elected members.
"I have spoken to George 's father Dickie, and he thinks it's a wonderful idea. "Officers will take them to have a look at the grounds and discuss what they feel would be best to remember George ."
The surge in affection for the soccer icon, particularly in his home city of Belfast, has shown no sign of relenting since his funeral a month ago.
A thousand people a day are still believed to be visiting Best 's grave in the Castlereagh Hills overlooking the streets where he was raised.
PA