Liverpool Football Club has unveiled a permanent memorial to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, at Anfield, one year after the brothers' tragic deaths. The sculpture, titled 'Forever 20', was created by Wirral-based artist Emma Rodgers and was installed outside Anfield Stadium on Thursday.
Background of the Tragedy
The Reds forward and his brother were killed in a car crash last July as Jota was travelling back to Merseyside for the start of pre-season training, just days after marrying his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso. In the aftermath, Anfield became a place of remembrance, with thousands of scarves, flowers and personal tributes left by grieving supporters. Last season, Liverpool permanently retired Jota's iconic No. 20 shirt across all levels of the club.
Design Inspiration and Details
Emma Rodgers spent nine months designing and crafting the tribute, weaving personal touches throughout the artwork. She told the Liverpool Echo: 'The words ''brother'' and ''always'' kept coming up. Jota was a brother to Andre, but that's how his teammates described him as well. For ''always'', I thought, how can I translate that [into art]? That's where the idea of infinity comes from. There are two infinity lines that are interlinked. It's like a Mobius strip, it's never-ending.'
Those intertwined forms became the foundation of the sculpture, before Emma layered in more tributes celebrating Jota's life on and off the pitch. His trademark heart celebration inspired the central heart shape, while the numbers 20 and 30 – representing Diogo and his brother André – are folded into the flowing forms. There is also a hidden message woven into the design: seen from the right angle, the sculpture's twisting forms and integrated numbers combine to spell out 'LOVE', a detail deliberately designed to be discovered as people walk around it.
Incorporation of Fan Tributes
Emma incorporated physical pieces of the tributes left by supporters in the days after Jota's death, so the fans themselves became part of the artwork. His song has been hand-carved across the surface, appearing and disappearing as it wraps around the sculpture, while the colours – red, green and gold – reference both Portugal and the clubs he represented. Emma added: 'It's a celebration of his life; he was such a young, vibrant person. I hope the fans can take some comfort in it.'
Public Reaction
Among the first supporters to see the memorial installed was lifelong Liverpool fan Joan Connah, who stumbled across the work while walking home through Stanley Park. The 78-year-old, who has supported Liverpool for so long she cannot remember when it began, stopped to watch as the memorial was put in place. She said: 'I was on my way back from the park when I saw all the work happening. So I stayed to see what was going on. I think it's gorgeous, it's absolutely brilliant. It will be nice to have a proper place where people can come and lay flowers. He'll never be forgotten.'
Artistic Process
Emma said: 'The fluidity of the ribbon is based on Jota's movement on the pitch; he was very balletic but also very dynamic. It was a case of having the fluid movements but having the sharp twists showing how he could move around the pitch in the sculpture at the same time.' She also noted: 'The bronze surface comes through because I wanted it to be light, but then you've got red, green and gold for the Portuguese flag. The red also represents Liverpool and Wolverhampton – all the teams he's played and loved throughout his life.'
Emma added: 'One of the roses that was left I soaked into the wax, and one of the consoles as well, which was another one of his celebrations and favourite pastimes. I wanted to feel like he had placed it down and paused the game.' She described the past nine months as a 'labour of love'.
