Armfield To Be Honoured With A Statue

The Blackpool Supporters Association have announced that they aim to raise £100,000 so that a statue of Blackpool legend Jimmy Armfield can be created.

The statue will be placed outside the main entrance to Bloomfield Road, looking out onto Seasiders Way.

It is estimated that the work will take nine months to complete, and the hope is that 'Sir' Jim can unveil the statue on his 75th birthday in September 2010.

The statue will be created by Les Johnson who has previously created statues of the likes of Brian Clough, and a series of fundraising activities will take place to fund the creation.

The first event to raise funds will be the 2009 Christmas raffle, which was recently used to raise funds for signage on Bloomfield Road. The football club have agreed to donate all profits from the draw to the statue's fund.

Easter 2010 will see a sponsored walk take place between Arnold School (where Jimmy attended) and Bloomfield Road.

Jimmy made 627 appearances for Blackpool (a club record), as well as 42 for England (15 as captain). He went on to manage Bolton and Leeds, before becoming one of the most respected pundits in football on Radio 5.

In 2000 he was awarded an OBE for services to football and has since been inducted into the Hall of Fame at the National Football Museum, whilst continuing to support the local community.

For more information on Jimmy and the statue, click here.

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