Chelsea FC Fans Attempt to Immortalise Lord Richard Attenborough
The world was aggrieved late on Sunday night to learn of the death of academy award winner and life-long Chelsea fan Lord Richard Attenborough who passed away at the age of 90.
Attenborough was instrumental to the survival of the club in the turgid age of the 80s where he refused to sell his shares to developers looking to flatten the stadium. A lifetime of support culminated in him being honoured with the title of Life President of the club in 2008. Chelsea historian and all around boffin Rick Glanville wrote a beautifully penned piece over on the Chelsea FC official site so I shan’t make any attempts to tread on his toes. I’ll only say that without ‘Dickie’, Chelsea would probably be an entirely different club.
Fans are now looking to celebrate the life of Attenborough and thank him in the best possible way:
"In recent years, illness had kept Lord A away from Stamford Bridge. Renaming the East stand would cement his legacy and would be a fitting tribute to a man that epitomised what is was to be Chelsea."
A petition looking to rename the East Stand currently has over 700 signatures and will be presented to the club this coming Thursday.
Personally I believe this is a wonderful idea and there is no better way to commemorate the life of a man to which we as Chelsea fans owe an awful lot. If you, as I, believe that this is a noble cause than I strongly suggest that you take a look at the petition over here
I think it is a fitting tribute because it will allow Attenborough to be remembered for what he was. When he walked through the turnstiles the hundreds of times he did through his lifetime he wasn’t an actor, a director or a celebrity; he was one of us. A fan.
(Thanks to Reddit user IlliniQuant for originally posting about this over on the superb r/chelsea subreddit)
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