The Euros kick off this month and fans all over the continent will be willing their countries on to success.
The start of the football championships on 14 June is a good time, then, to remember some of the greats from the past and none come much better than Billy Bremner.
As his country rarely qualified for them, the Scot sadly played in few major international tournaments.
But the 2024 Euros feature Scotland this time, and they will kick off the tournament with a match against Germany for openers, so a new campaign to honour “the wee man” seems even more timely.
The idea was to commission a statue of Bremner in the player’s Stirling home town and the campaign has “gone through the roof.”
An artist has now been selected by a selection panel made up of people from the Scottish Football Supporters Association, University of Stirling, Raploch Community Council, Stirling Community Enterprise, Tartan Army Magazine and the Leeds United Supporters Groups.
The late Scottish professional footballer, who both played for and managed Leeds United,is regarded as one of the game’s greatest midfielders.
Born in the Raploch, Bremner kicked off his professional playing career with Leeds United, where he went on to captain the team and was also at the forefront of the Scotland football team in the 1970s. Bremner is honoured by a commemorative statue outside the South East corner of Leeds United’s Elland Road.
But there is no such accolade – yet – in his home town.
It is hoped a statue can be positioned near to where Bremner grew up on Weir Street.
One of those behind the campaign is lifelong Leeds United fan Gary Edwards who told this site: “The project to have a statue for Billy in his hometown of Raploch has gone through the roof.”
Edwards, author of several books on the club, added, “We have selected a sculptor out of a short list of three and it is all systems go.”
“A small group of us started this campaign in 2017 and finally we can now see white at the end of the tunnel.”
Another Leeds Utd fanatic, Robert Endeacott, said, “This is fantastic news about a real club legend who is still adored by many.”
The campaign was started by Leeds United Supporters Groups who approached Raploch Community Council.
Professor Richard Haynes of the University of Stirling later created a video “Fae Raploch to Elland Road” which details Bremner’s journey from growing up with his adoptive parents, his early football career, through to becoming part of footy folklore.
Fellow Scot Eddie Gray, a former teammate of Bremner, and Liam Cooper, current Leeds United captain and Scotland international who is part of his country’s Euro 2024 campaign, have signed two replica 1974 shirts to support the campaign.
One shirt will be put on display beside the statue while the other will be auctioned off. Other Scotland and Leeds internationals, including striker Joe Jordan, have already agreed to sign shirts and help the campaign.
Project manager Alexander Gibb said: “Leeds and Stirling are two great cities in which Billy is revered. While he has been immortalised in Leeds, it is about time Bremner is further recognised north of the border in his home town. It is an honour to be part of the project commemorating the man voted as ‘Scotland’s Greatest Ever Captain.”
Professor Haynes said: “We were very proud to work with the local community on the cultural heritage project about Bremner.It is an honour that is more than rightful for a man of Billy’s stature.”
