Man City tribute to three club legends to be unveiled next week

Manchester City will unveil their lasting tribute to Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee next Tuesday on the morning of their Champions League game with RB Leipzig.

There are already works of galvanised steel by sculptor Andy Scott celebrating the achievements of Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero at the east side of the Etihad. And chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was keen to get a different perspective to recognise another golden era of the football club.

David Williams-Ellis, a classically-trained sculptor with a global reputation whose works include a D-Day memorial above Gold Beach in Normandy, has spent the last few years attempting to capture the best of three of City's best players from the late 1960s and early 1970s era. The work will be on the west side of the stadium, and will be in position in time for the Champions League game next week.

ALSO READ: Colin Bell - the shy, humble King so quiet he was stopped from entering a stand named after him

ALSO READ: Francis Lee led one Man City golden age then helped to deliver another

“It is a great honour to create a work of art for Manchester City Football Club celebrating the diverse, talented players, Bell, Lee and Summerbee," Williams-Ellis said. “It’s been an extraordinary last two years, working on this project that celebrates these players from a great era in Manchester City’s football history.

“I hope that the work will give a sense of history and place to the legions of fans and visitors that come to the football ground from around the world and become an enduring part of Manchester’s cultural landscape.”

Summerbee is the only member of the trio alive to see the work, following the deaths of Bell in January 2021 and Lee last month.