Pat Jennings honoured in his native city of Newry

​Andy Edwards says it was an honour to be entrusted with the Big Pat tribute because he rates the Newry man as standing tall alongside greats of the game Pele, George Best and Johan Cruyff. Andy spoke to The Reporter ahead of his journey to Newry for the unveiling. He said:

"Pat Jennings is a living work of art of the highest calibre; the way he conducts himself as a gentleman on a world stage and how he represents his hometown. I feel I understand the city of Newry to an extent, because I've come to understand aspects of Pat Jennings.That's that great thing when you've got a role model, someone as iconic as that, to represent a community in countries all over the world. And that's the reason why I'm immensely proud to be travelling to Newry for the installation and unveiling of this statue because he's your son and I'm being invited to come and meet his family and community which is a massive, massive honour to someone like me."

Andy has been a fan of Pat’s since childhood, first seeing him on football ‘tea cards’ and recalls, "I saw Pat play at the Victoria Ground. I saw him pull the ball out of the air with one hand, such an incredibly unique feat, but what I remember more than anything else, amongst the crowds, whatever team he was playing for and whoever they played, everyone had such reverence for Pat. Billy Bingham said he had the air of an ancient Irish king, and that's exactly how he comes over in person and certainly how he conducted himself on the field. He's got that kind of majesty about him, full of grace."

Andy kept in regular contact with Pat as the statue took shape over recent months.

"I was approached by Pat's family and friends to enable a permanent tribute and also by his number one fan, Doug Nash Aldershot in the south of England, who was instrumental in his determination to see a tribute to Pat and contributed his knowledge throughout from his memories and huge scrapbooks with every possible photo that's probably ever been taken of Pat. Doug was a goalkeeper himself, so he was able to advise on kits, boots, all those things, which Pat later confirmed himself when he came over to visit. The process of creating the statue is quite lengthy and the most important part is the research. In my approach to statues, a level of journalistic detail and authenticity is absolutely vital."

Pat Jennings performed the official unveiling of his statue in Kildare Street, Newry on Wednesday morning. The legendary Northern Ireland goalkeeper was capped 119 times for Northern Ireland and played in two World Cups.His club career included winning five trophies with Tottenham and Arsenal in addition to being named the Players' Player of the Year [1976] and Football Writers' Player of the Year [1973]. Pat is pictured with his wife Eleanor

Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

Legendary goalkeeper Pat Jennings performed the official unveiling of his statue in Kildare Street, Newry on Wednesday morning. The legendary Northern Ireland goalkeeper was capped 119 times for Northern Ireland and played in two World Cups.His club career included winning five trophies with Tottenham and Arsenal in addition to being named the Players' Player of the Year [1976] and Football Writers' Player of the Year [1973]. Pat is pictured with his wife Eleanor .