West Brom to unveil statue of Tony Brown

The bronze sculpture will take pride of place outside the East Stand's main entrance to honour his unstinting 20-year service to the club.

The statue, created by renowned sculptor Jonathan Wylder, has been two years in the making.

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Brown, Albion's record appearance maker and goalscorer, has been consulted at every key step of the process.

Preliminary work on the statue began today, and the Baggies tweeted an image showing a digger at the scene:

Chairman Jeremy Peace said: "Tony is a West Bromwich Albion legend and it's only fitting his immense contribution to the club will be celebrated in this way.

"He holds just about every club record there is and is one of the greatest players in our history.

See also: Bomber Brown's life in pictures and video

"Of course, the most important factor in this process was Tony, and ensuring he was happy with the statue.

"Tony made several trips to Jonathan's studio in Oxfordshire to see, and give his opinion on, the work in progress."

Between 1961 and 1981, Brown, who joined Albion as a schoolboy, made 720 appearances, scoring 279 goals.

He also helped the club win the League Cup in 1966, the FA Cup in 1968 and promotion back to the top flight in 1976 before being part of club's hugely exciting team of the late 1970s.

"When the chairman called me in two years ago to tell me his plans, I was dumbfounded," said Brown.

"What a great honour. I'm humbled by it.

"When you go to away games, every now and again you see statues of players.

"But to know there is now going to be one of me at The Hawthorns is actually a funny feeling – but a special one.

"It's great for the club to do this in appreciation of the service I gave."

Work on the statue's foundations started today and the date of the August unveiling will be announced in the coming weeks.