Plans are underway for a seven-foot bronze statue of Tony Wilson, the Factory Records co-founder and broadcaster who died in 2007 aged 57. The statue would stand in Greengate Square in Salford, once the site of the old Victoria Bus Station, with Wilson rooted in Salford but looking towards Manchester.
Wilson, who developed renal cancer, was refused funding by Manchester Primary Care Trust for the drug Sutent, which would not cure him but would extend his life. The drug cost £3,500 per month. Patients alongside him at The Christie Hospital who lived in Cheshire did receive funding. Music industry and media friends rallied to help pay.
A life marked by quotes and civic pride
Branding the funding situation a scandal, Wilson pointed out that tummy tucks were available on the NHS. He said at the time: "I thought where am I going to find the money? I'm the one person in this industry who famously has never made any money. I used to say 'some people make money and some make history' which is very funny until you find you can't afford to keep yourself alive."
He never paid for private health care because he was a socialist. Wilson died on August 10th 2007 aged 57 after the cancer progressed and he suffered a heart attack.
His part in Manchester's renaissance from post-industrial gloom was huge. As co-founder of Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub, his entrepreneurial zest, charisma, and pro-North arrogance fuelled the Madchester music phenomenon, putting a spotlight on the city which investors and developers were attracted to. As a Granada TV presenter and reporter he was suave, outspoken, and a bit of a wildcard.
His pride in Manchester and his home city of Salford were authentic. He once said: "I love Manchester. The crumbling warehouses, the railway arches, the cheap abundant drugs. That's what did it in the end. Not the money, not the music, not even the guns. That is my heroic flaw: my excess of civic pride."
Statues across Manchester and Salford
Manchester and Salford are dotted with statues. Outside Salford Museum and Art Gallery across a lawn, Queen Victoria faces Prince Albert. A seated Queen Victoria looks less than amused with daily activities in Piccadilly Gardens. Albert Square has the Albert Memorial made from Sicilian marble, and statues of philanthropist Oliver Heywood; four-times Prime Minister William Gladstone; and Manchester Bishop James Fraser. In December 2018, a bronze statue of leading suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst was unveiled in St Peter's Square. Just across the River Irwell from the envisaged Wilson statue, a 9ft bronze of Mahatma Gandhi stands near the Cathedral, unveiled in 2019 on the 150th anniversary of his birthday.
Any statue of Tony would need to reflect his humour and self-belief too, as captured in one of his quotes which is emblazoned across a wall in the Manchester Evening News editorial conference room: "As for the debate about which is England's second city, just let London and Birmingham slug it out between them." But the man himself said "nostalgia is a disease", as the former Hacienda nightclub building was bulldozed to make way for flats.
Driving forces behind the statue
Steve Coen, a former Salford Councillor, and Joy Division and New Order member Peter Hook are the driving force behind the plans for a Wilson statue. Steve said: "Wilson's belief in what this city could be, and his global vision and ambition for Manchester, shaped so much. We do things differently here; we see things differently here, and that quality has a legacy, one that should never be forgotten."
"We should always move forward, be creative, and make things happen. That is what his legacy means to me. A statue that embodies all of these qualities represents not only his memory but also the future of Manchester and Salford, as we are bold, creative, fun and empowering."
Mr Coen played a key part in a Manchester Evening News campaign which resulted in a new memorial to 156 "forgotten" war heroes from Salford being installed in the Greengate district in 2015.
Mixed views on the tribute
Andy Spinoza, author of "Manchester unspun", commented on the planned statue: "I can't think of anything less fitting for the Mercurial, shape shifting Tony Wilson than a fixed metal figure of him." He added: "His legacy is much more subtle and powerful than a mere sculpture, which would be a very old-fashioned way to commemorate an avant-garde free thinker."
"A year after he died Manchester City Council gathered Tony's collaborators together and we all felt a statue would be inappropriate. So there is the square called Tony Wilson Place at First Street in Manchester." He noted there were so many Tony Wilsons - the reporter, the TV celebrity, the intellectual, the egomaniac and the not very good businessman - and any statue could not hope to capture them all. "He was a great internationalist and so they should have named Manchester airport after him. It looks like Salford want to make a claim on his reputation by turning him into a selfie backdrop for tourists."
Even after we lost him, Tony Wilson remains a catalyst for debate.
