Charlton Athletic celebrates its 120th birthday today.
On the club's 100th anniversary in 2005, the statue of the legendary Sam Bartram, which stands proudly outside The Valley, was unveiled.
The statue was sculpted by Anthony Hawken FRSS, the renowned Blackheath-based sculptor, who passed away last month after a long battle with cancer.
Below are a few words from Steve Sutherland, who chaired the centenary committee in 2005, about Anthony.
Anthony Hawken was born in London. He studied at the Medway College of Art and at the Royal Academy Schools. Some of the luminaries he has sculpted busts of include Lord Melvyn Bragg, Sir Patrick Stewart and Lord Norman Lamont.
Apart from the sculpture of Sam Bartram, Anthony also sculpted the busts of Alan Curbishley, which is on show in the Keith Peacock Suite at The Valley, and Pierre Bolangi, which resides at the club's Sparrows Lane training ground. Anthony also sculpted the ‘Sammys’, the miniature statuettes of Sam Bartram which were presented to the players who were chosen as the club’s greatest ever in the Centenary ‘Hall of Fame’.
Anthony was simply a genius, I called him ‘eminent’ as I always referred to him as the eminent Anthony Hawken. Watching him work on Sam’s statue was inspirational and it’s sad that he died just ahead of the 20th anniversary of the statue’s unveiling.
Anthony's talent will be on show forever at The Valley, which is fitting as he always said that sculpting Sam’s statue was his greatest achievement.