Sir Kenny Dalglish delighted staff after paying a visit to a huge new mural dedicated to him on the side of an Anfield hotel. The Liverpool FC legend visited The ARC Hotel on Anfield Road on Monday (August 17) after former boxer Tony Bellew arranged the visit.
The enormous artwork, painted on the side of the hotel by artist Anthony Donnelly of Urban Canvas, features a well known image of Sir Kenny surrounded by newspaper clippings and banners highlighting some of the most memorable moments of his extraordinary career. Sir Kenny arrived at the hotel on Monday to see the mural for himself.
Staff praise for the Liverpool legend
Jade Lee, 33, manager of The ARC Hotel, told the ECHO that one of the staff members knows Bellew and helped organise the visit. She said: "We've been in talks for a couple of weeks but we had to keep it on the down low. He told us a couple of days before it happened that he was coming, but we didn't want to make it into a big frenzy."
"[Sir Kenny] was an absolute pleasure. He's very normal, very down to earth. It was just like speaking to one of your friends. He was so witty and kind, signing everything for the staff members. Once word got around, loads of people started coming outside the hotel and he was getting pictures with everyone. He said [the mural] was amazing and he hadn't seen anything like it."
"It's amazing, he's such a legend. Even after he left, we were all in shock. And same for Tony Bellew, just so friendly and down to earth."
Mural details and hotel makeover
The mural was completed around six weeks ago, while a second, smaller mural was added to the hotel last week, also painted by Anthony. Jade said staff decided it was time to give the side of the hotel a makeover after the previous artwork had begun to look tired. The building had previously featured murals of Liverpool greats including Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler and Virgil van Dijk.
Take a look at the gallery below to see photos of the signing at The ARC Hotel on Anfield Road. The artwork took three weeks to complete and can be found at The ARC Hotel on Anfield Road, Anfield.
