SPORTS STATUES IN LONDON

Sports Statues in London

Wembley Stadium

      This montage of Rugby League greats from different teams and eras features Eric Ashton, Billy Boston, Alex Murphy, Gus Risman and Martin Offiah. 

      Since 1929 the Rugby League Challenge Cup final has been held at Wembley despite the fact the game isn't taken seriously anywhere south of Widnes (apart from Australia and Perpignan). It's not for southern softies. And 90,000 northerners invading the capital is a tad  unnerving for Londoners. See The Mash Report. 

     I don't think I can add anything to the plaque honouring the only Englishman to captain World Cup winners.

    There are two more statues of Bobby Moore in London .....

        East Ham                                         London Stadium

     On the left Bobby holds the Jules Rimet trophy aloft chaired by Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst and Ray Wilson. 

    On  the right he holds the European Cup Winners Cup with Peters and Hurst after West Ham had beaten Munich 1860 in the 1965 final at Wembley. Peters ashes are actually interred in the base of this statue .....

     Bobby Moore died of cancer in 1993. Geoff Hurst (b 1941) is the only member of the 1966 winning team still alive. As of August 17, 2025 Ian Callaghan and Terry Paine, who did not play in the final, are the only other surviving members of the squad.

Leyton

     En route to one of my many covid boosters (at Leyton Orient's ground) I happened upon this rather nice memorial to Laurie Cunningham in Coronation Gardens. 

    He played for Orient and West Bromwich Albion and was the first English footballer to play for Real Madrid. He died, aged 33, in a car crash in Spain in 1989.

Tower Bridge

      It was only recently revealed that the model for this statue by David Wynne was Virginia Wade.

     Wynne sculpted many famous people including Queen Elizabeth II and the Beatles. But Girl With A Dolphin is perhaps his best-known work. It was unveiled in 1973 and Wynne died in 2014 without divulging who had modelled for the sculpture. But, in November 2023, Virginia Wade revealed she was the naked model, although the face of the girl was obviously not hers. In 1972 Wynne also produced a bust of the British tennis star but no-one made the connection. It can be seen in the National Portrait Gallery .....

Mile End Park

      You have to take my word for it that this steel statue is of former Spurs and England  defender Ledley King. He was born in nearby Bow.

Haringey

      Nicola Adams became the first female Olympic boxing champion in 2012, retaining her title four years later. On the right is footballer, Walter Tull, who played for Tottenham Hotspur from 1909-1911 and later for Northampton Town. Walter was the first man of Afro-Carribean to practice as a dentist in the UK and the first black officer in the British army. He was killed in action in WWI.

       The third statue is of Luke Howard, the man who first classified cloud formations. His tenuous sporting connection is that two areas at the top of Tottenham's stands are named 'Stratus East' and 'Stratus West' in recognition of the 'Godfather of Clouds' who lived and died nearby.

Stamford Bridge

     Despite all their recent success, for most Chelsea fans Peter Osgood remains their most iconic star. And you can't miss his statue in front of the West Stand which is nine foot tall mounted on a four-foot-high plinth.

Twickenham

     There are some splendid action statues by Gerald Laing at the home of Rugby Union. None of them are modelled on specific players .....

     Laing's five statues portray various aspects of the game; I feel a collapsed scrum would have been more of a challenge.

The Valley, Charlton

      Sam Bartram holds the record for Charlton Athletic appearances with 623 between 1934 and 1956. Given that no league football was played during the Second World War this is a remarkable total. He is often touted as the best keeper to have never played for England. During his time at Charlton they won their only FA Cup, in 1947, and achieved their highest league position, finishing second in 1936-37.

Craven Cottage Stadium, Fulham

    George Cohen (above, left) is the only Fulham player to have won a World Cup winners medal - for England in 1966.

    Fulham and England midfielder Johnny Haynes is on the right. 

     In 1961 Haynes became the first Englishman to earn £100 a week for playing football. Harry Kane is currently the best-paid English footballer. His weekly salary at Bayern Munich is £406,000.

    Note that football boots had become a bit more practical by the 1960s. They had screw-in nylon studs which could be replaced with rubber ones when the pitches were frozen. Yes, no wimps in those days. Also, heading leather lace-up footballs, especially when wet, was not for the faint-hearted.

    For those wondering, the statue of Michael Jackson, which once bizarrely stood outside the ground, was removed in 2013. It was originally commissioned by Mohammed al Fayed who was club chairman at the time, 

    The statue of Johnny Haynes is actually quite a good likeness - which is more than can be said of Harry Kane's .....

      Commissioned in 2019, Harry now sits unloved at the Peter May Sports Centre in east London. After a risk assessment, it was rejected for a site in front of Chingford station. Following four years in storage it was finally unveiled at the place where Kane began playing for Ridgeway Rovers as a six-year-old.

Peacock Gym, Canning Town

    This is sad. Bradley Stone collapsed hours after being stopped in a British super-bantamweight title fight. He never recovered consciousness and died two days later. He was 23.

Emirates Stadium

     The home of Arsenal is lavishly adorned with images of earlier days, including their two most successful managers, Herbert Chapman (1925-1934) and Arsène Wenger (1996-2018) ....

Herbert Chapman                                                      Arsène Wenger

     This is Ken Fryer. In 1946, aged 12, he was given a part-time job by George Allison after kicking his ball under the Arsenal manager's car. From the humble beginning of match day messenger boy, Fryer went on to become a board member, managing director and secretary of Arsenal. In 2020 he was appointed life president of the club.

                         Thierry Henry                                                        Tony Adams

      It's interesting that this statue of Dennis Bergkamp has him in mid-air given that he famously had a fear of flying - often problematic for away games. Another interesting Bergkamp fact - well, you decide - is that his father wanted to name him after Denis Law; but only the Dutch spelling of Dennis was allowed in his homeland. Elon Musk had a similar problem: X Æ A-12, one of his 14 kids, is now known as X Æ A-XII due to California naming laws.

     Portraits of many other Arsenal legends, including my old friend Bob Wilson, adorn the outside of the stadium ......

      ..... although their homage to "the Romford Pele" could do with some TLC.  Also, in the surrounding streets, there are murals aplenty by gooner street artist Northbanksy ......

Poplar

       Terry Baldock was Britain's youngest ever world boxing champion.  Aged 19, the Pride of Poplar defeated American Archie Bell at the Royal Albert Hall for the World bantamweight title.