Sir Stanley Matthews (Bet365 Stadium)

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Sculptors Julian Jeffrey, Carl Payne and Andy Edwards. The three nine-foot statues were made by local artists, showing Sir Stanley at different stages of his football career, which spanned more than 30 years. The location of the statue is Stoke City FC’s home, the Britannia Stadium but it points towards the club’s old Victoria Ground where Sir Stanley used to play.

The statues themselves were fashioned from local clay before being cast. The creation of the statues took a whole year to complete. Carl Payne, one of the sculptors, refers to the work as the evolution of Sir Stanley as the ‘Wizard Of Dribble.’ He said “Historically it is absolutely correct. People who knew Stan donated his old football boots so we could get it authentic – right down to the last eyelet. All the balls are in the right era and the strip, even the rope around the shorts of Sir Stan when he was a young lad and making his debut for Stoke.