 | |
| Location | Peter May Sports Centre, Walthamstow, London |
|---|---|
| Designer | Sculpture Machine [1] |
| Type | Statue |
| Beginning date | 2019 |
| Completion date | 2020 |
A statue of the footballer Harry Kane, completed in 2020, was unveiled in Walthamstow, London, in November 2024.
The statue was commissioned when Kane was a player with the north London team Tottenham Hotspur. It shows him seated on a bench with a football on his knee. [2]
The work was funded by Waltham Forest Council at a cost of £7,200 in 2019 and 2020. [2] Several locations were explored for the statue and it remained in storage while a location could be agreed upon. It was originally to be sited at Chingford railway station, but this was rejected following a risk assessment by Transport for London. [2] A plan to place it in Ridgeway Park was also rejected. [2] [3]
The first pictures of the statue were obtained by the street newspaper Big Issue in 2024. [4] The images were met with some criticism with some questioning whether a footballer should be sitting on a bench in the way portrayed, while others made fun of its brown, chocolate-like appearance. [5]
The statue, along with a mural, were finally unveiled at the Peter May Sports Centre in Walthamstow on 18 November 2024. Kane began playing here as a five-year-old for Ridgeway Rovers. [6] [7]
