Statues | Vital Football

Statues

SeasideEssexXile

Vital Football Legend
Piece in today's Gerzette around the lack of any care / maintenance by the club around our legends statues.

'disgraceful' neglect of statues of Blackpool FC heroes
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The Jimmy Armfield statue at Bloomfield Road has fallen into disrepair, some fans have claimed
  • A group of Blackpool supporters enraged by the “disgraceful” condition of the Jimmy Armfield and Stan Mortensen statues outside Bloomfield Road have decided to take matters into their own hands.

    Fans have accused the club of failing to look after the statues, which are said to be overgrown with weeds and in dire need of essential repair and maintenance, and have offered to undertake the work themselves free of charge.
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    The Stan Mortensen statue outside Bloomfield Road


    The work would also involve surrounding brickwork being power-sprayed, gaps between bricks filled in with sand and damaged paving slabs replaced.

    Tim Fielding offered to coordinate with the club on behalf of fans who wanted to tidy up the areas around the statues, which he describes as a “real mess”.

    This comes after two volunteers took it upon themselves to weed the area around the plinth on Armfield’s statue back in June.
    Mr Fielding claims club owner Owen Oyston approved their plans five weeks ago, but he was told the supporters would need to get the go-ahead from his daughter Natalie Christopher.
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    The Stan Mortensen statue outside Bloomfield Road

    However, he has since been frustrated in his attempts to secure a meeting with the club chairman.
    Mr Fielding said: “I’ve been unable to make any progress despite regularly chasing up this issue, which leaves me feeling that we are being messed about. This is a great shame as all the volunteers wanted to do was offer to ensure that our legend’s statues and the surrounding areas were properly presented at no cost to the club.


    “This isn’t a political issue – nothing to do with Blackpool Supporters’ Trust, Tangerine Knights or the ongoing Not A Penny More campaign – rather just to show due respect to two great servants of the football club.
    “Now I have no alternative other than to report back to those who kindly offered to help to say that I’ve been unsuccessful in securing permission for the work which we wanted to ensure was completed before the start of the season.”
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    Fans believe the statues are in need of some maintenance work

    Family members of both Mortensen and Armfield have both lent their support to supporters, according to Mr Fielding.
    He added: “I appreciate there are other things going on at the football club at the moment, however these statues are very important to those of us who fundraised to have them constructed.


    “Putting it bluntly, they and the surrounding areas are a disgrace and should never have been allowed to get into the condition they have. The club are their custodians yet have allowed this to happen.
    “It shouldn’t need a meeting and if it does then the club should prioritise it. Instead I am told to wait another two weeks. Sorry but that’s not good enough.”
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    The Stan Mortensen statue outside Bloomfield Road

    The Gazette contacted Natalie Christopher for comment but received no response.
 
The main thing at the moment being keeping the club ticking over......
Point scoring serves no one ..........
 
Does that make you happy,I take no enjoyment from it..........
Of course it doesn’t make me happy. It makes me very angry. Just remember Premier 1, that you and your fellow mushrooms have contributed to the club’s demise with your determination to finance the assett strippers.
 
Tim Fielding has posted this email he received from Morty's great niece after she met with Natalie Christopher around the statues:

Hi Tim,

I spent two hours with Natalie this evening, spoke with her and went and viewed both statues and surrounding areas with her.

She has given her word that she will have the work done, and will start instructing people tomorrow. Points made and agreed to were:

1) Lifting flags around Sir Jimmy’s statue, flattening ground/base and re-laying flags/replacing broken ones.
2) Power-washing of plain bricks around Stan’s statue. Cleaning out space between bricks and filling in as necessary. Enquiries to be made about lettering on bricks with dedications and appropriate measures to be taken to return them to pristine status.
2) Regular cleaning of both statues and upkeep of area, to allow fans and visitors to see statues in the best condition (at least three people turned up to have their photos taken with statues while we were there, proving a point).
3) Investigation into possible remedies for rusting around bolts on Stan’s statue. For now the bolts and surrounding areas are being kept oiled to limit damage while professional help is sought. She agreed statue should never have been touched. We can’t change the past though, so let’s look forward.

I reiterated the fact that interest on your part and others was purely respect to the two gentlemen who are no longer with us, and the desire to keep statues paid for by fundraising in a good condition. I told her I would be contacting you to tell you she had given her word the work will be done, but also said I was representing my family and would be willing for the work to be carried out by anyone as long as it gets done. She said it is the club’s duty and it will be.

She seemed genuinely interested and to understand my views and those of the fans (at least in this instance). My suggestion would be to give her the opportunity to prove she does what she has promised and then decide on actions if nothing is forthcoming.

I think that covers it all. Let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Kind regards,
Nicola
 
Good to see that somebody has taken the initiative to hopefully persuade the club to honour their obligations regarding these statues.
 
A simple job like that should not be such a big issue surely ? Where is the problem ? Silly and tedious.
 
We shall see.
Nicola was given assurances and an apology from the club following the un ceremonious removal of Morty’s statue... this despicable bunch have reneged once again. I can’t quite fathom why my cousin has even entertained the concept of listening to further hollow promises, but likewise I commend her and Tim - the founder of what became BST, sued for stating the truth and a true hero of BFC, for highlighting this, and trying to restore pride for our club’s legends.

The trite, glib, partial recognition by the club and the lack of anything of worth from certain quarters of the ‘fan’ base speaks volumes...
 
Looks considerably better and it should never have been allowed to fall in to the condition it was in previously.
That said well done for doing what you said you will do. 1.jpg2.jpg3.jpg4.jpg
 
Very well done Nicola. You took the bull by the horns and persuaded the Chairwoman to do the right thing.
Thanks also to Tim Fielding and others for shaming the owners into action.
 
Looks like a really good job. We need to respect our legends. Pleased that this was fine eventually