Statue of Portsmouth legend approved
Planning permission has been granted for a statue of Portsmouth FC legend Jimmy Dickinson outside Fratton Park
Pompey Supporters’ Trust has had its plans for the 7ft bronze monument approved by the city council, paving the way for its installation at the north-west corner of Fratton Park.
Council planners said the proposals, which include fencing, information boards and seating, was suitable for the area and would have no negative effect on the area.
The supporters’ trust is aiming to have the statue up early into the coming football season – the club’s 125th anniversary year – describing it as ‘a fitting tribute to a man who did so much for the club’.
Jimmy Dickinson featured a club record 845 times for Pompey, the only club he represented, and won two Division One titles. He played for England 48 times, including at two World Cups.
After retiring from playing, he became the club’s public relations officer then secretary before a two-year spell as manager. He was awarded an MBE in 1964 and died in 1982 aged 57.
Trust treasurer Donald Vass, who is overseeing the statue project, said he was pleased with the progress that had been made.
‘We are very pleased with the progress that’s been made,’ he said. ‘It’s a really impressive statue and it certainly gives across the aura of the man that we really wanted to achieve.
‘It’s something that’s long overdue – there are very few people in football who achieved everything he did – and it will be great for those who remember him but also show how big a role he played to those who don’t.’
A clay cast has already been completed by London sculptor Douglas Jennings and this has been sent to the Czech Republic for the statue to be created.
The trust said the chosen location would not ‘prejudice any future redevelopment of the North Stand’ and that it hoped the statue could later be moved to a more prominent site.
The 2.2m statue will sit on top a 1.3m plinth, according to the approved plans.
And more than £100,000 has so far been raised by the trust to fund the statue, the majority of the cost of the project with the trust now considering funding options to make up the shortfall.
In 2012 a supporter submitted a planning application for a statue of Dickinson at the corner of Milton Road and Alverstone Road. Planning permission was granted but never progressed.