William McGregor
Commissioned by Aston Villa football club and the Supporters Trust
Bronze 2.3m high. Life and a quarter 7ft 6 inches
Location: Villa Park - Trinity Road, Aston
Artist: Sam Holland
Unveiler: Unveiled by Lord Mawhinney, chairman of the Football League 2009.
Cost: £55,000
Plinth: The ceramic tiles on the plinth reflect the huge contribution the pottery industry had on the wealth of the area.
Purpose: To commemorate the vision and ambition of William McGregor in creating the pathway in the football league.
William McGregor, 1846-1911, Founder of the Football League.
William McGregor (1846 - 1911) was a committee member of Aston Villa (from 1877), then Club President (1880), eventually becoming the Club Chairman (1897). McGregor helped to found the Football League in 1888. The statue in his memory was unveiled in 2009 in the car park next to the Trinity Road Stand at Villa Park.
Sculptor Sam Holland copied McGregor's likeness from a few photographs taken of him and a painting of him at a meeting with other directors that hangs in the McGregor Suite at Villa Park.
It depicts him standing with a letter in his hand, proposing his vision for the system of future football competitions.
Sam Holland said: "He was a portly gentleman and as the son of a draper I imagine that he would have been well dressed and had an eye for style, so I put him in woollen trousers, a silk waistcoat, with a long morning coat, a cravat and an elegant cane."
She hired an Edwardian costume from a fancy dress shop in London on which to base her design.
It took six months to design and six months to be cast in the foundry and is on display at the main entrance to the Trinity Road stand at Villa Park - a stadium funded through McGregor's idea to turn the club into a limited company.
