The date for the unveiling of the Jack Leslie statue at Home Park will be confirmed after the fixture list for next season is announced in June.
Organisers of the Jack Leslie statue campaign plan to centre the unveiling event around a home game in late September or early October.
After an incredible fundraising effort, the campaign is in the final stages of delivering its key objective – a bronze statue of the pioneering footballer outside Home Park, the stadium where he plied his trade.
Born in East London, Jack Leslie signed for Plymouth Argyle in 1921 and scored 137 goals in 400 appearances before injury forced his retirement in 1934. Lauded as a true Argyle legend, he is now known as the first black footballer to be selected for England in 1925, but his place was denied before the game took place due to the colour of his skin.
Leslie’s three granddaughters, Lyn, Gill and Lesley, who have supported the effort from the very start, were recently able to see the work at sculptor Andy Edwards’ studio.
It was an emotional moment for them. They said:
“It’s fantastic. We can’t believe the likeness and Andy has truly captured the essence of granddad. You can see that sparkle in his eyes, that wonderful smile that he had. It’s so much more than looking at a picture. His emotions come through in the sculpture. It’s incredible. It may have taken a hundred years, but he will now be known for the great goal scorer that he was.”
Andy Edwards is a renowned sculptor who has created many of the country’s top sporting works. These include the Stanley Matthews monument at Stoke City, Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and Emlyn Hughes statue, and the recent Sir Alex Ferguson statue at Aberdeen.
He has been working on this statue for nearly a year, researching and working on scale models. Now he’s putting the final touches on the one and a quarter life-size sculpture of Jack Leslie.
Andy said:
“Statues have to stand in for their subject, so we have to make sure to get everything right. Not just the detail, but the character has to come over too. For fans, they will never have been able to walk around an image of Jack before, but for his family, I know this is very emotional. When they visited my workshop recently, it was emotional for me too. The next time we meet will be in Plymouth when Jack makes his triumphant return to Home Park. I can’t even dare to imagine what that will be like. I just hope we’ve done him proud, but as the saying goes, we’ve left nothing on the pitch in terms of effort.”
The full-size clay sculpture will soon be moulded and then cast in bronze. It will then be installed on a stone plinth in the area outside the Lyndhurst/Devonport End corner, the busiest area on matchday.
Campaign co-founders Greg Foxsmith and Matt Tiller said:
“We are incredibly excited to announce our unveiling plans as this is the culmination of a huge effort. Thousands of football fans from Plymouth’s faithful Green Army to the other clubs Jack was associated with, West Ham and Barking, and many more across the nation and globe have made this happen. We are so grateful to them and can’t wait to see the monument revealed. It will stand as a fitting tribute to Jack Leslie the player and tell the story of the injustice of 1925.”
Plymouth Argyle has fully supported the project and chief executive Andrew Parkinson, said:
“We are delighted to see the Jack Leslie Campaign press forward, and we are really looking forward to seeing the statue of an Argyle great take pride of place at Home Park. Congratulations to everyone who has made it possible – including a huge number of Argyle fans who contributed to the fundraising effort. As well as telling an important story, Jack’s statue will look fantastic alongside other stadium improvement works taking place in the seasons ahead.”
Many individuals and businesses have contributed, and the campaign welcomes further donations. They will be used to create a legacy fund for the maintenance of the statue and help continue spreading the story of Jack Leslie far and wide.
