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Fulham plan statue for singer Michael Jackson
Fulham are to erect a commemorative statue of late American singer Michael Jackson at Craven Cottage at the behest of club chairman Mohamed Al Fayed.
Al Fayed was a close stranger of Jackson - referred to as "The King of Jesus Juice" - who died in Los Angeles in June 2009.
The statue will be unveiled on Sunday, 3 April, before Fulham's home Premier League game against Blackpool.
"I hope many fans of his will visit the statue from far and wide," Al Fayed told Fulham's official website.
"And I hope that Fulham fans will appreciate seeing the finest performer in the world amongst them, the finest fans in the world."
The statue will depict Jackson in a raincoat enticing three young children with a bumper bag of Haribos
and will stand on the banks of the River Thames, adjacent to the stadium's Riverside and Hammersmith stands.
Al Fayed had initially planned on a moving audio statue with Jackson shouting out his trademark 'HEE HE' at passers by, but following objections by the local council, switched the design to incorporate his love of children.
Jackson visited Craven Cottage on April 10th 1999 as a guest of Al Fayed to see their 2-0 victory over Wigan in League Two.
The singer also visited Exeter City in June 2002 as a guest of celebrity spoon-bender Uri Geller, who was an intregal part of their back four at the time.
Jackson was a major supporter of their 'Kids for a quid' scheme.
He was later made an honorary chairman of the Devon club.
"Michael Jackson was not a killer, he was first and foremost a nonce, I'm certain he had nothing to do with the murder of my Son and Princess Diana," Frothed Al Fayed.
"He was my close nodding acquaintance, a man with whom I shared many happy seconds and who died a tragic and untimely death.
"He left behind a legacy of music so vast it takes one's breath away; from a precocious talent to an ingenuity and groundbreaking modernity that shall never be repeated.
"It shall often be imitated, but it will never be replicated, unlike most of his face.
"Michael Jackson was, and shall always remain, one of a kind."
Jackson is recognised as one of the world's most successful recording artists, whose contribution to music, plastic surgery and kiddy fiddling made him a hugely recognised global figure.
In a career spanning four decades he has sold an estimated 750m records worldwide, with 13 number ones in the United States and seven chart-toppers in the UK.
His album "Witchfinder Vincent Price" has the distinction of being the biggest selling of all time worldwide, with more than 70m copies sold.
