Banks Statue Developments

Back in September, the Leicester Mercury More magazine column penned by “Fred Leicester” revealed the plight of a Gordon Banks statue http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/FRED-LEICESTER-Come-City-let-s-save-Banksy-s/story-19830801-detail/story.html

The story burst into life again once word of this story got back to the owners of the statue and the Mercury revealed at the beginning of this month that the statue owners would be keen for the statue to reside outside the King Power Stadium http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Transfer-news-Leicester-City-sign-statue/story-20539039-detail/story.html

The Mercury then quickly drummed up local support by talking to ex- players and fans http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Gordon-s-coming-home-s-time-bring-statue-City/story-20548486-detail/story.html

This interest has now sparked off a battle, with the local paper in Stoke issuing a hands off warning despite the statue not appearing to be wanted by their club for several years http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Hands-Gordon-s-statue/story-20553749-detail/story.html

As the media interest grew, BBC Radio Stoke invited Foxes Trust Chairman, Ian Bason, to contribute to a discussion on their breakfast show. You can listen to the coverage here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01pvtvz  Commence listening at 1 hour 14 minutes and the discussion lasts around 10 minutes and features several interested parties. NB: this link will only work for around a week

The Trust has spoken to LCFC Chief Executive, Susan Whelan, about the situation and confirmed that Leicester fans have been keen to have a statue of a respected  ex player outside the stadium for many years. Although it is understood that the statue owners are willing for the statue to be moved outside our stadium for a period on loan without a charge, the club are clarifying what costs are involved in the longer term.

Today the Leicester Mercury revealed that the Stoke Sentinel has launched a petition to keep the statue in Stoke http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Stoke-newspaper-launches-campaign-Gordon-Banks/story-20564267-detail/story.html