New details emerge as Liverpool FC plan permanent Diogo Jota memorial
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NewsLiverpool NewsDiogo JotaA tribute to the much-loved Reds forward will be installed outside AnfieldNew details have been revealed about a permanent memorial to Diogo Jota and his brother following their tragic deaths last summer. Liverpool FC has submitted a formal planning application to the city council to install a sculpture to be known as Forever 20 outside Anfield.Reds forward Jota and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car crash last summer as the Portugal international made his way back to Merseyside for pre-season training, and just days after he had married long-term partner Rute Cardoso.
Liverpool retired Jota’s number 20 shirt at all levels of the club last season, and fans have continued to chant the forward’s name in the 20th minute of every match.The installation will be officially located on 97 Avenue, where thousands of physical tributes – including flowers, scarves, works of art, cards, banners and opposition jerseys – were placed to create a poignant tribute area in the immediate aftermath of his death. A covering letter to the application said this would reflect “its importance as a focus for celebration and commemoration.”According to the planning documents outlining the plans for the statue, it will centre around a flowing heart symbol, reflecting Jota’s own goal celebration.
When viewed from different angles, the sculpture will reveal the numbers 20 and 30, which adorned the back of the brothers’ playing shirts.It will feature the lyrics to Jota’s famous song so beloved by Liverpool fans. Rocks collected from the brothers’ birthplace of Gondomar, Portugal, have also been incorporated.In the days that followed the brothers’ death, Anfield was turned into a shrine as scarves, flags and floral arrangements left by mourners, Reds supporters, as well as opposition players and fans.The documents said the statue will be sat in an area of open grassland near to the existing Houlding Statue on 97 Avenue.This area was completed a decade ago to form part of the Anfield tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.Etched into the metal wil be inscriptions collated from various sources including family members, teammates, a tribute from Jota’s former club Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Portuguese national team, Andre Silva’s club FC Penafiel and a reference to Gondomar.To honour Jota’s love for gaming, a mock up of a games console controller will also be situated on the plinth.A dedication to both brothers will be laser-engraved into the stone which has been chosen to be sympathetic to the adjacent Anfield Forever scheme.The proposals were formally submitted to Liverpool Council on behalf of the football club last week.