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Tony Wilson regarded nostalgia as "crap". But he may well feature in a slice of it. The gifted, swaggering, and influential journalist and music mogul left his mark on Manchester. It has been convincingly argued that the success of Madchester music scene and his Hacienda nightclub was a root cause of the city being able to emerge from post-industrial decline. For several years a tribute to Wilson has been mooted. Joy Division and New Order star, Peter Hook and friend, former Salford councillor, Steve Coen, have been incubating the idea. Coen believes that a statue of Wilson should be installed. He reckons the location should be opposite Manchester Cathedral on the Salford side of the River Irwell in the new Greengate Square where the old Victoria Bus Station once was. The location is where Hooky admits he "stole many a goodnight kiss". Something to capture the dynamic charm of the late Wilson, who died in 2007, aged 57, is a justified vision. But the statue idea may just be a catalyst for other, alternative ideas to flow from current generation of artistic talent. It 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." The De La Salle Grammar School old boy was a charismatic journalist at Granada Reports but gained Mancunian legendary status as co-founder of Factory Records that introduced bands including Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays and manager of the Hacienda. Wilson, who died in 2007, aged 57, famously hated nostalgia, saying it was ‘crap’. But in 2022 a bust of him was created by artist Emma Rodgers as tribute to the role in played in the culture of the city - from booking the Sex Pistols to appear on "So It Goes" to intellectual jousting with the likes of Anthony Burgess. Emma was commissioned to create the Tony Wilson bust by a client of Delacey Fine Art Gallery, Manchester. The client has admired Tony's career and approached her to capture and incorporate some of this within the sculpture. Should a statue be the preferred option to salute Wilson, she could be in the running for the job. Emma told the Manchester Evening News in 2022: "I was a frequent visitor to the Hacienda in my youth, so knew of him and had also featured Tony and people he had worked with in my Salford Firsts sculpture situated on Bexley Square, Salford. Hooky was really helpful with information for the details for both sculptures as were other bands. "His glasses (in the bust) are not fully formed ,like a loose sketch and perch low on his nose, like they did when he was in deep conversation. I have studied a number of images, information and video footage to watch his expression and movement hence his hand resting gently on his shirt. "My aim was to keep the piece quite fluid as he was so expressive with such an imagination. A really forward thinking person I was trying to convey that energy of such a strong character." Peter said: "You only have to look at Oasis to see why Tony Wilson should be celebrated. What Oasis have done, which is seismic, would not have happened without him. He sold the seats for every interesting Manchester musical venture. "Next year it is 50 years since the Sex Pistols came to Manchester - who put them on telly? Tony Wilson. It is as plain as the nose of your face, most people in Manchester whether they like him or not, know that what he did for Manchester with Factory Records is huge, and it does need celebrating, it is as simple as that. "I said to Steve, if we don't get a f....ing move on they will be doing a statue of me. A location is available we have talked to planners and engineers, it is just getting that final permission." Referring to the location he added: "I used to get many a goodnight kiss in that bus station." "If we don't celebrate these cultural heroes we are missing a trick. We didn't know what we were doing then (80s and 90s) yet millions of people around the world celebrate it now. Tony is a prime example and why it needs to be done. Steve Coen really has got a massive heart for Salford and a real passion and we need to get this done." Steve said: "Like many Mancunians of my age group, my formative nightclub years were influenced in part by Tony Wilson’s cultural vision and impact. It wasn’t just the Haçienda experience, he seemed to be everywhere, on so many interesting and different TV programmes. "I remember particular interviews he did with the American political observer and writer Gore Vidal another was with Anthony Burgess they were always well matched, those interviews, and they were the moments where he felt he assumed to be more like Anthony than Tony! "He introduced us to fascinating, alternative viewpoints, and that sharing of ideas and interests was one of his greatest gifts to us TV viewers. "His 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. "We should look forward to future change makers thriving in this city. The statue can serve as a reminder that you do not have to be an inventor, a member of royalty, or a footballer to earn a place in history. You can be yourself, make a difference, and inspire the next generation of creatives in Manchester, be confident in your abilities, when you are from Manchester and Salford, you have a head start." 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. Salford councillor, John Warmisham, said: “The question I ask myself is would Tony Wilson like a statue of himself? Probably not, but like me if you were a lover of the Manchester post punk music scene from the mid seventies onwards you owe him a great debt. "From the original Factory club in Hulme , promoting local bands like The Fall and international stars like Iggy Pop. This led to the Hacienda and the gigs and dance scene that it created, which put the Manchester music scene on the worldwide map. "He was also proud of his Salford roots, born in Hope hospital and going to De La Salle school he spent his formative years in the city. I know Manchester has its Mark Kennedy mosaic of Tony, so why not a statue in Salford?” There is no doubt that a statue can resonate with some as recognition of achievement. Manchester and Salford are dotted with them. Outside Salford Museum and Art Gallery across a lawn Queen Victoria faces Prince Albert. There is already a statue of Mahatma Ghandi near to the Cathedral. The 9ft bronze work was unveiled in 2019 on the 150th anniversary of his birthday. He is depicted in his tradtional dhoti and shawl. Its purpose was to celebrate Manchester's multicultural society, and was designed by Indian artist Ram V Sutar. At the unveiling Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham said he hoped it would remind people of the city's spirit after the 2017 Manchester Arena attack - " a defiant rejection of violence". The statue itself was donated to the city by the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (SRMD) and privately paid for by the Kamani Family. Plans for another statue at the same location as Ghandi, paying tribute to the region's firefighters never came to fruition. In 2018 after vanishing, being discarded as scrap metal, and spending decades on the ‘wrong’ side of the river, Joseph Brotherton's statue came "home". A 9ft 6in bronze of him was returned to Peel Park - 160 years after it was first put up there. During a century and a half it had disappeared into storage, reappeared in Cheshire, then, Manchester, and finally Salford. A Liberal politician, Brotherton, a progressive man, was re-elected five times, unopposed on two occasions. When he died in 1857, a fund was set up to pay for a memorial to the great man, who campaigned against the death penalty and for the abolition of slavery. He was largely responsible for the opening of Peel Park, and so a bronze statue of him was erected at the front of the park, But in 1954 the monument was taken down to make way for a new technical college, which in time would become Salford University . It was then placed in storage until 1969 when it was sold into private ownership. There remains speculation that the statue was sold by hard-up Salford council for scrap metal. But new owner Christopher Richards placed it in the grounds of his home in Gawsworth Hall, Cheshire. It was then sold for £5,000, in 1986, to Manchester council - who put it up on the Manchester side of the River Irwell on a walkway at Albert Bridge. So, for several decades, Joseph appeared to be gazing across the water to Salford. And of course in 2017 Freidrich Engels returned to Manchester 150 years after he left. Engels came to Manchester in 1842 and went on to chronicle the depths of poverty in the city, in his work ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’, which was published in 1845. As part of the Manchester International Festival, a 12ft statue of the German founder of "scientific socialism" with Karl Marx, was unveiled - in Tony Wilson Place. Wilson would have revelled in reporting for Granada TV how the statue ended up in Manchester. It had stood in a village eastern Ukraine once named after Engels. But the statue was toppled in 2015, following Russian aggression against Ukraine. The statue was abandoned on farmland. Other Soviet-era statues in Ukraine had already been pulled down in 1989 following the democratic momentum that led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall that year and then the overthrow of Communist rule throughout Eastern Europe. It was recovered from Ukraine by the Turner prize-nominated artist Phil Collins.
