"No plan" to rename Southampton's Itchen Bridge
A dedicated Saints fan has been calling for a name change
Council bosses in Southampton say they have no plans to rename the Itchen Bridge to The Lawrie McMenemy Bridge.
Dedicated Saints fan Nick Illingsworth campaigned for the bridge to have a name change to honour the 87-year-old football legend who managed the Saints for 12 years.
During his tenure, Southampton beat Manchester United to win the FA Cup in 1976 and he guided the club to its highest-ever finish, second place in the First Division, in 1984.
Mr Illingsworth said: "Lawrie McMenemy arrived in Southampton in 1973 to manage Southampton Football Club, since then he has not only put the football club on the map in world soccer by winning the FA Cup in 1976 but also as a consequence of that, the City of Southampton itself.
"Both as manager of Southampton FC and also other roles within the club, but also with his work on television and the media, he was the face of Southampton and never missed an opportunity to champion not only the football club itself.
"In 2007 he was made a Freeman of The City, a great honour, but as he celebrates 50 years in Southampton, it is surely a sad thing that there is nothing in the city itself commemorating a man who has done so much for the area.
"Renaming The Itchen Bridge in his honour would make an apt tribute to his legacy, in that it not only overlooks Saints current home at St Mary’s, but it overlooks St Mary’s Church, the birthplace of the club in 1885."
The city council agreed to hear Mr Illingsworth’s representation, as they did with several other residents in October.
However, now the council’s cabinet is getting ready to approve or refuse those representations.
A pre-cabinet report states the response from the officer: "The council has no plans to rename the Itchen Bridge.
"The council is respectful of the achievements of Mr McMenemy both as a sportsman and for his wider contributions to the city, which as noted in the presentment, led to Mr McMenemy being made a Freeman of the City.
"Consideration needs to be given to the legal implications of renaming the bridge (it being referred to in the Hampshire Act for Toll purposes, for example) and was named as such through an Act of Parliament and would require a subsequent Act of Parliament to change it.
"It is also common practice not to name streets and highway structures such as bridges after living people."