News Update on the Celebration Statue

Funding - During the past four years I have worked a small group of dedicated volunteers to raise £220,000 for the Celebration Statue that will honour the contribution made to English football by three of the greatest players to have worn a Baggies shirt - Laurie Cunningham, Brendon Batson and Cyrille Regis.

During the past year the financial contributions have slowed down and certain promises that were made have not materialised. However to compensate for this we have created savings through value engineering in raw materials and foundry costs. In addition to this Graham Ibbeson, because of his passion for the project, has wiped off a large part of his artistic and creative fee.

The net result of this is that our fundraising target has now been reduced o £38,000 and we are working with Sandwell Council and other partners to finalise a fundraising plan that will enable us to unveil the Celebration Statue at the start of the 2017-18 Football Season.

The Statue Progress - The full size Celebration Statue of three separate eight foot figures - Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson and Laurie Cunningham - has been cast into bronze under the personal supervision of sculptor Graham Ibbeson. When the final phase of fundraising is in place we will start the intricate process of welding the individual bronze sections together. Once this process has been completed, the statue will transported to the foundry in West Bromwich to be fine finished and polished.

The Location - It has been confirmed by Sandwell Council that the site for the Celebration Statue in New Square, West Bromwich has been prepared and a foundation installed.

The plinth will ready to receive the statue when it is complete and the temporary decking that protects the plinth will be replaced by polished granite panels.

Contributions Support for fundraising events and financial contributions to date for the Celebration Statue have been received from Sandwell Council, the Professional Footballers Association, The Football Association, The League Managers Association, Kick It Out, the West Bromwich Albion Supporters Club, WBA Former Players Association, members of the 1979 Club, businessmen in the Black Country and the dedicated fans of West Bromwich Albion.