Baroness' joy over Wolverhampton statue of Sir Jack Hayward
One of Sir Jack Hayward's closest friends has warmly welcomed plans for a statue of the great man in Wolverhampton city centre.
Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint said Sir Jack would have been 'embarrassed but chuffed' about proposals for a statue, and of re-naming a stand at Molineux after him.
The Jack Harris stand, known to fans as the South Bank, will from next season be called the Sir Jack Hayward stand. And Wolves are working with Wolverhampton City Council to build a statue at an as-yet-undecided location.
Baroness Heyhoe Flint knew Sir Jack for 45 years and said the statue should be in a 'highly visible' location. She said: "It's a cliché phrase but he was very much a man of the people and the statue should be somewhere where people spend a lot of time.
"When you think of the thousands who turned up for his funeral in the city, it was overwhelming. Anything to do with Sir Jack that commemorates his being is to be applauded.
"He used to say 'I don't want anything'. But that was Jack, he was so humble and never did want that attention.
He would very embarrassed by all this but also chuffed."
As for the statue, Baroness Heyhoe Flint added: "Perhaps something in his beloved blazer with the city crest and his Wolves tie he always wore."
As well as the restaurant, Sir Jack has the Wolves training ground named after him, as well as a street next to Molineux. And Baroness Heyhoe Flint revealed:
"I thought we'd kept it a secret from him but unfortunately as it was minuted in a council meeting he saw it in the Express & Star the night before."
