Why the Strange Case of Harry Kane’s Statue could have a happy ending

Somewhere, hidden from view, it has been kept in storage for the past five years.

But, finally, there appears to be some movement in The Strange Case of Harry Kane’s Statue.

“The statue has a home and will be launched in the coming months,” Emma Best, the ward councillor who commissioned the statue in Chingford, the area of north-east London where Kane grew up, tells The Athletic. “It’s really disappointing the photos were leaked as we want the community to enjoy the full experience of the launch.”

Those photographs have created all sorts of discussion since the Big Issue newspaper made the big reveal – under the headline: “Waste of money or fitting tribute?” – to show the immortalised Kane sitting on a bench with a football on his knee.

Not everyone has been convinced by the likeness and, without wishing to sound cruel, perhaps it is easy to understand why the pictures have gone viral when the journalist who got the exclusive says: “It’s a statue that looks like chocolate.”

As for Kane himself, he has yet to comment on whether he is happy or not with the likeness. His representatives had previously said they were “really excited” about the project, adding that “the location of the statue is really important to us”.

So far, however, it has become an embarrassment for those at Waltham Forest Council, which commissioned the statue in 2019 to commemorate Kane’s links to the area before becoming the record scorer for Tottenham Hotspur and the England national side.

Kane’s feats with England have been immortalised (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Since then, plans to place the statue on Chingford’s overground railway station had to be abandoned because of a risk-assessment study carried out by Transport for London.

Concerns were raised that the statue might be targeted by fans of rival teams on the basis that Chingford also has a sizeable number of West Ham United and Arsenal followers.

However, The Athletic has discovered the main reason Transport for London objected to the statue going up inside the station was a safety report that claimed that it could impact the train drivers’ line of sight and cause a possible accident.

One suggestion was that the statue should be put up in an alternative location close to the station (rather than in it). Another possible location was Ridgeway Park, where a schoolboy Kane scored his first competitive goals for Ridgeway Rovers junior team. But that did not get anywhere, either.

Instead, the statue has been left to gather dust and its design would have remained a secret had it not been for the work of journalist Greg Barradale, writing for Big Issue, the street newspaper that raises money for homeless initiatives.

“Like everyone else who saw the story about a hidden statue of Harry Kane, I had one question: how bad can it be?” says Barradale. “A councillor denied there were any available pictures at the time, so I thought I’d test that and fired off a…