Plans to place a statue dedicated to football legend Denis Law outside Aberdeen’s new hall of heroes have been shelved – as it is too heavy.
Aberdeen City Council had suggested putting the 4.5-tonne bronze statue, roughly the weight of 72.5 average people, outside the newly renovated Provost Skene House, which is now home to a museum celebrating the area’s great and good.
Council chiefs had hoped that by putting it in that spot, it would bring more football to the area and bring visitors to the attraction.
But now the proposal has now been taken off the table amid concerns the monument is too heavy for the underground car park underneath Marischal Square.
Speaking to the BBC, the city council’s culture spokeswoman Marie Boulton said: “We have looked at a couple of sites and unfortunately the weight bearing on top of the car park underneath, there was an issue over that.”
It is now planned to put the Law statue – named Legend – in a pedestrianised area just off Broad Street, between the Marischal Square office buildings.
Created by sculptor Alan Herriot – who designed the Robert the Bruce statue on Broad Street – the statue is due to be unveiled next month.
The Lawman
Law is widely regarded as one of the greatest Scots to ever play the great game.
He won the Ballon d’Or in 1964 – the only Scottish footballer to ever win the prestigious accolade – and is fondly known by fans as The King and The Lawman.
Born in Aberdeen back in 1940, he studied at Powis Academy before being scouted by English side Huddersfield.
Moving away at just 16, it wasn’t long before he caught the eye of both Manchester City and Manchester United.
He stayed with the Red Devils for 11 years and is widely acknowledged as one of their greatest ever players.
As one-third of Manchester United’s Holy Trinity alongside George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton, there are two statues in his honour outside Old Trafford.
In August, his trust announced that he had been diagnosed with mixed dementia.
He was granted the Freedom of Aberdeen in 2017, and also features in the hall of heroes at Provost Skene’s House, alongside the likes of author Stuart Macbride and illustrator Johanna Basford.
The attraction opened on Saturday after a £3.8million revamp.