Statue to honour Portsmouth Football Club legend Jimmy Dickinson on track to be unveiled next season as a planning application is submitted

With a clay cast of Jimmy Dickinson having now been finished by London-based sculptor Douglas Jennings, the 7ft bronze figure is now being made at a foundry in the Czech Republic. Ahead of its return to the UK, the Pompey Supporters’ Trust has now applied to the city council for permission to erect it at the north-west corner of Fratton Park. A statement submitted with the application says this would mean it does not ‘prejudice any future redevelopment of the North Stand’ and that it is ‘hoped’ it could later be moved to a more prominent location.

Jimmy Dickinson featured a club-record 845 times for Portsmouth FC, the only club he represented, winning 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.

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Depending on the fixture list, which is due to be published next month, trust treasurer Donald Vass, who is overseeing the statue project, said he expected it to be unveiled in September or October, early into the club’s 125th anniversary year.

‘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 such a fitting tribute to a man who did so much for the club and we think everyone who sees it will agree.

‘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.’

The 2.2m statue will sit on top a 1.3m plinth.

More than £100,000 has been raised by the trust to fund the statue project although it is still short of the total cost. Mr Vass said there were ‘avenues’ for funding that were being explored to fund the remainder.

Sculptor Douglas Jennings has previous experience creating footballing statues, having made the statue of former Watford manager Graham Taylor in 2018.

In 2012 a Pompey supporter submitted a planning application for a statue of Dickinson at the corner of Milton Road and Alverstone Road which was approved but never progressed. The planning application was submitted earlier this month and the council has set a deadline of July 4 for reaching a decision.

ALSO READ: Crowdfunding campaign launched for bronze statue of Portsmouth FC legend Jimmy Dickinson

To donate to the Crowdfunding visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/jimmy-dickinson-statue-at-fratton-park