Derby County last night unveiled a lasting memorial which will take pride of place at the iPro Stadium in honour of the late Dave Mackay.
After leaving Hearts, Mackay enjoyed success at Tottenham Hotspurs before moving to Derby rather than take over as player manager at Tynecastle.
At the Baseball Ground he won the Second Division title as a player and also guided Derby to the First Division championship as the club’s manager.
He passed away in March of this year at the age of 80 and soon after his death, the club stated that it would be in discussion with the Mackay family to ‘erect a suitable and lasting memorial in his honour’.
The club commissioned Stoke-based artist Andrew Edwards to produce a one and a quarter life size statue of Mackay, which was revealed before a special event at the iPro Stadium this evening.
Edwards has an outstanding reputation within his industry and has worked with the club over the years to create the Brian Clough/Peter Taylor Statue and the Steve Bloomer Bust.
He has also produced work featuring Muhammad Ali, Sir Walter Winterbottom, Gordon Banks, Sir Stanley Matthews, amongst many other famous names.
The statue is situated outside the Players’ Entrance on the exterior of the Toyota West Stand and was unveiled by Isobel Mackay, the widow of former Scotland international.
It has been cast by Evans Concrete at Somercotes in black granite stone and hand finished by local craftsmen.
Hosted by the club, last night’s event saw Derby celebrate the achievements of the Rams’ 1974/75 First Division Championship-winning side and the 1975 Charity Shield success – significant moments in the club’s history that Mackay oversaw as the club’s manager.
Former players including Bruce Rioch, David Nish, Alan Hinton, Roy McFarland, Archie Gemmill, Kevin Hector and Charlie George were all in attendance to see the statue revealed.
Fittingly, the event took place in the recently-refurbished Dave Mackay Suite at the iPro Stadium.
John Vicars, Derby County’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to pay tribute to Dave Mackay and, as such, remember his contribution to Derby County in this way.
“This is in keeping with the other club projects that featured Brian Clough, Peter Taylor, Steve Bloomer and Lionel Pickering who all feature prominently in the clubs’ history.
“Following Dave’s funeral in Scotland in March we began dialogue with his family and, with their blessing, the wheels were put in motion to create this fitting tribute.
“We commissioned the artist Andy Edwards who in my view is the best in the business and utilised the skills of Garry McBride, Chairman of Evans Concrete, who cast the statue for us.
“The final outcome is nothing less than we expected, it is an outstanding piece of work, and I am sure when our fans see it for themselves they will be suitably impressed.”
Artist Edwards said: “Dave Mackay is one of a few modern day men who truly deserve to be deemed legendary.
“To play a part in this permanent tribute from the club he captained, managed, loved and achieved so much for is an eternal blessing for me.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Derby County Football Club and Evans Concrete once again to produce something that is as original, heartfelt and hopefully as inspiring as the spirit we pay our tribute to.”
Photographs courtesy of Derby County FC
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
It would be nice to think Hearts could do the same.
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