Harry Kane attends unveiling of statue derided as ‘the stuff of nightmares’: £7,200 tribute to England captain finally goes on display after five years in storage

A questionable Harry Kane statue which has languished in storage for nearly five years has finally been unveiled today.

The England and Bayern Munich striker, who has been back in the UK for the international break, posed for pictures with the sculpture at The Peter May Center in Walthamstow, east London.

The statue of the England captain is said to have been completed in 2020 at a cost of £7,200, a year after it was commissioned by Waltham Forest Council.

But the sculpture of the Walthamstow-born star, who is seen sitting on a green bench and holding a football on his thigh, has been mocked by fans who described it as ‘the stuff of nightmares’.

The statue was planned to be installed on a platform at Chingford Overground station – but they were shelved following a risk assessment carried out by Transport for London.

Emma Best and Roy Berg, the Conservative councilors for Chingford’s Endlebury ward, who approved the project, reportedly rejected the idea of ​​placing it in Ridgeway Park, where the Bayern Munich star played football as a youth.

Before being signed by Tottenham Hotspur, Kane’s first club as a child was Ridgeway Rovers. Former England captain David Beckham, Kane’s idol growing up, also played for the same club.

The statue was finally unveiled today at the Peter May Centre, where Ridgeway Rovers have modern facilities, which Kane opened in 2016. The sculpture has been placed in front of a mural dedicated to Kane, who added his signature to the wall.

The statue has divided opinion, with art critic Estelle Lovatt telling Sky News this morning: ‘If you think about it historically, a public statue was there to perpetuate, show off and loudly brag about the person’s achievements and achievements. If it doesn’t really look like the person, it’s quite difficult to relate to it’.

When asked what her first reaction was to the bronze sculpture, she said: ‘I just thought the Roman emperors wouldn’t have held up to it, with those kinds of standards.

‘It’s impressive because of its size and it’s amazing because of its size, but it lacks any aesthetic creativity.’

She added: ‘When it becomes quite a ridiculous depiction, it doesn’t empower the craftsman or the artist or indeed the master they’re trying to capture. It fails like everyone else.’

In March, a spokesman for Kane said they were ‘really excited’ about the statue.

Especially with Harry as England and Tottenham’s top scorer of all time. This is what he deserves, says the spokesman.

‘The placement of the statue is really important to us and like Emma (Bedst) said, we have some issues at the moment but once we get it right we’ll be happy to go.’

When pictures of the statue first appeared in March, it caused great joy on social media.

FC_E wrote on X: ‘Does any professional footballer have a decent statue? Why do they all look so bad. I doubt Harry Kane is happy with this.’

Mollie Goodfellow wrote: ‘Why does he have a goatee?’

Ben Dallimore tweeted: ‘Harry Kane has a statue?’

Project Football EPL wrote: ‘Waltham Forest Council spent £7,200 on a Harry Kane statue in 2019, it has been in storage ever since. Why is his head so big?’

COPA90 added: ‘Waltham Forest Council’s £7,200 Harry Kane statue is the stuff of nightmares.’

Many drew comparisons to the much-mocked statue of Cristiano Ronaldo, which was unveiled at Madeira Airport in Portugal in 2017.

This was replaced a year later by another sculpture of the former Manchester United winger, who was born in Madeira, reportedly at the request of his family.

Another statue that faced a backlash was that of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona, who was immortalized in Kolkata, India, in 2017.

And outside of football, tennis great Andy Murray had a statue of him made in the style of a terracotta warrior in Shanghai, China, which also raised questions about the likeness.