West Ham United is pleased to confirm plans for the installation of a new statue at London Stadium, honouring our three most famous sons - Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters – and their finest hour in a Hammers shirt, the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph.
The statue, to be located at Champions Place and unveiled as the focal point of the Club’s 125th anniversary celebrations over the course of the next year, is part of our continued commitment to bringing our rich heritage and history to London Stadium.
After it was decided that the original Champions’ Statue would remain at the junction of Barking Road and Green Street, adjacent to our former home at the Boleyn Ground, it was the Club’s immediate intention to commission and fund a new statue.
Supporter consultation and feedback over the past 12 months provided a clear and widespread view that any design should again focus on the three golden greats of the ‘60s – Moore, Hurst and Peters, who all came through the famous Academy of Football to reach the very pinnacle of the game in 1966, when they led England to World Cup Final glory against West Germany at Wembley.
Furthermore, to ensure West Ham United’s own greatest achievement under the Twin Towers is also recognised, the lifesize-and-a-quarter bronze statue will depict the three immortal legends lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup trophy in 1965, commemorating a performance that catapulted the Club on to the world stage after two second-half goals from Alan Sealey, saw Ron Greenwood’s Hammers overcome German side TSV Munich 1860.
Moore, Hurst, Peters, Sealey and team-mates Jim Standen, Joe Kirkup, Ken Brown, Jack Burkett, Ronnie Boyce, John Sissons and Brian Dear stand forever as Claret and Blue heroes – nine of whom came through the youth ranks in the years following the revolutionary era of the 1950s, led by Ted Fenton, Malcolm Allison, Noel Cantwell and their fellow Academy of Football peers.
Mounted on a plinth located directly adjacent to the Champions Place area, alongside a plaque describing the famous European victory and paying tribute to the full line-up of players and legendary manager Greenwood, the statue has been commissioned and designed with the full support and involvement of Sir Geoff Hurst and the families of the late Martin Peters and Bobby Moore, whose daughter Roberta – herself an established and hugely-respected curator in the field of sculpture – has played a key role in the entire process.
Sir Geoff Hurst MBE said: “It is a tremendous honour and I feel very proud that Bobby, Martin and I, along with our team-mates in 1965, have been recognised in this way.
“We were all very fortunate to play together for West Ham United at a time when the Club enjoyed such great success, and it was our development in that period which ultimately paved the way for the achievement of winning the World Cup with England.
“Bobby, Martin and I shared such wonderful times. We grew up together as young players and managed to reach the pinnacle of the game alongside one another for both club and country.
“The 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup victory will never be forgotten. For West Ham United to have come from the old Second Division just seven years earlier, win the FA Cup in 1964 and then become only the second English team to win a European trophy a year later – it was a magnificent achievement for the Club.
“The fact that nine of that team were all homegrown lads who came through the Academy ranks together made it even more special, and it is fitting that our greatest triumph in the Claret and Blue shirt will now be immortalised forever at London Stadium. I feel very privileged and it is a lovely reminder of such happy and memorable times.”
Roberta Moore said: “This is a wonderful tribute and I am very proud that my father, along with his teammates, will be honoured in this way at the home of West Ham United. Dad, Geoff and Martin, along with all the players at West Ham during that time, shared such great camaraderie and spirit.
“They were teammates on the pitch and friends off the pitch; they grew up together through the ranks of the Academy, and achieved fantastic success with the first team.
“It has been a real privilege to be actively involved in the early stages of the design process for the statue. As someone with a huge passion for art and sculpture, I was delighted to be asked by the Club to provide my views, and obviously the fact that it is to honour my dad makes it a real labour of love.
“I think it is also appropriate for the statue to have an unmistakable West Ham context. Dad’s finest hour was undeniably the 1966 World Cup victory but winning the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup with West Ham was an outstanding achievement of which he was very proud.
“He had a very special relationship with the West Ham supporters, who love and revere him still, and that is what pleases me the most about this statue; it will be located in an area at the London Stadium that thousands of Hammers fans will walk past every time they visit, providing a fitting and enduring reminder of Dad and his teammates’ legacy.”
Kathy Peters, wife of Martin – who sadly passed away last December, said: “I’m so delighted to hear that this statue will be installed at the stadium. Martin had such great love for West Ham - the Club meant to much to him and he had such fond memories of those times. It is a great comfort to know how loved and respected he was, and how much he still means to the West Ham supporters and everyone at the Club.”
West Ham United Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold said: “We are extremely proud and honoured to have commissioned this statue, which we believe will be a magnificent and fitting tribute to the three greatest players in our history and the finest hour they shared with their team-mates in a Claret and Blue shirt.
“Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters stand for everything that West Ham United supporters cherish most about our football club – homegrown, local players who progressed through the famous Academy of the 1950s, represented the Club with class, dignity and passion at all times, and reached the very pinnacle of the game at Wembley in 1966…a victory that earned them immortality.
“A year earlier they, along with their eight other team-mates, played a pivotal and unforgettable role in leading West Ham United to European glory against TSV Munich 1860, a triumph that elevated the Club to global prominence.
“To see this wonderful and permanent tribute to our greatest players and our greatest victory unveiled as we celebrate our 125th anniversary will be an extremely proud day for everyone associated with West Ham United.”
Given that planning had already been approved for the installation of the original Champions Statue at London Stadium, the Club has been required to submit a minor planning amendment for the new design.
The club is pleased to confirm that the formal title of the statue will be chosen by our supporters, via an online vote. Details of the voting process, along with further updates and announcements on the grand unveiling of the statue, will appear on whufc.com in due course.
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