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An application for Planning Permission has been submitted for the erection of a statue of Newry footballing legend Pat Jennings in Newry City Centre.
Pat Jennings was born in Newry in 1945 and hs career includes 119 international appearances for Northern Ireland and made over 1000 league appearances playing for Watford, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
It is proposed that the statue of the will be located on the footpath opposite No 2 Kildare Street, in sight of Newry Town Hall. The bronze statue of the much capped goalkeeper will sit on a granite plinth and will be around 2.8m in height. The Sculptor is Andy Edwards who has done scuptures of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor for Pride Park, The Beatles at Pier Head and even The Bee Gees in the Isle of Man.
The project is being carried out by the group 'Friends of Big Pat' an organisation set up as the group members explain "to acknowledge the outstanding contribution son of Newry, and former Northern Ireland International, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Arsenal FC, Watford FC and Newry Town goalkeeper Pat Jennings has made to sport, charity, reconciliation and the promotion of his home city and district."
The plinth will contain a plaque with details of the players career and famed for his 'big hands' there will be two life sized hand casts of Jennings.
The Friends of Big Pat Group consists of Newry residents, international soccer fans, former teammates and friends of Pat Jennings and funding for the project primarily has come from private sponsorships and donations. Check out more information on the group at https://www.friendsofbigpat.com
