We lost the ‘King of Stamford Bridge’ at the age of just 59 and such was his place in Chelsea history as the star player in the flamboyant trophy-winning side of the late 1960s and early 1970s, a permanent tribute was soon planned.Now any visitor to our stadium who enters via the Britannia Entrance or makes a journey past the outside of the West Stand sees the Peter Osgood statue that was put in place. For many it is a good meeting place or a photo opportunity.It is the one statue at Stamford Bridge, and in memory of Peter today, we look back at how it came to be…

Many tributes

It was with shock that Chelsea and the wider football world learned that Ossie had passed away on March 1 2006. Tributes were paid at the away game and then the first home game that followed, when Chelsea won, as we all knew they would, and in October that same year a memorial service was held at Stamford Bridge during which Peter’s ashes were interred under the penalty spot at the Shed end of the pitch.Family, friends, former team-mates and many fans were in attendance. It is comparable with the service to be held for his team-mate in so many games, Peter Bonetti, later this month

It was on the first anniversary of Peter Osgood’s passing that a more permanent memorial was first announced. Initially it was to be life-sized bust, located in the East Stand executive club reception, but after correspondence with supporters, a more public position outside the stadium was confirmed.Peter’s widow Lynn was very much involved in the process, including choosing the right design which grew from the original idea for a bust into a full statue.The sculptor selected was Philip Jackson, who created the statues of Sir Bobby Moore and Sir Alf Ramsey at Wembley Stadium, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and away from football, the Queen Mother's memorial on The Mall in central London, the Queen's equestrian sculpture at Windsor and Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square in Westminster, among many others.

Jackson’s ability to convey the human condition through the skilful modelling of body language is one of the main reasons he was chosen for the Osgood statue, and during its creation at his studio in West Sussex, he spoke to the official Chelsea website about the process.It all started with a small clay 'marquette' which was shown to Osgood's family and the club before it was decided to go ahead with the chosen pose, capturing the characteristic way the player would stand while holding a ball.'I use the marquette to produce a steel structure similar to the skeleton in a body, and that's what holds the structure together,’ Jackson explained.

'I know a nine-foot figure will take about a tonne and a quarter of clay, so the structure has to be strong enough to hold that. Then it's welded to a steel plate, which is attached to a turntable. That allows me to work on the model and turn it to see it in different lights.'That's when I start working on the detail, looking at photos etc. because the full-size structure is different from the marquette. The way it works in light, how it will stand in the open air, all these things come into play. Then it's really a case of putting in the hours and looking at it afresh every day, asking yourself what is wrong with it, what needs to change and eventually the day comes when you think you have done it all.'

Jackson pointed out that with sportspeople there tends to be a very good stock of photographs shot from the front but very little from the side or behind. He therefore relies on family members for information on appearance, expressions and stance.When finished, the life-and-a-half-size sculpture in clay was used to create a rubber mould which in turn was used to generate a wax casting at a foundry.That was surrounded by a material, put in an oven and with the wax melting out, a new mould had been made. That was suitable to be filled with molten bronze.The finishing touch to the bronze cast was applying the chemicals to make it its blue-green colour which as planned, has darkened with time.

With every statue comes an unveiling, and for Peter’s, it was held on Friday 1 October 2010.In front of invited guests including past and present players, Lynn Osgood and Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck removed the covering from the figure standing nine foot tall, not including the plinth.

'I put Ossie in [the team] straight away and he was a revelation. He was great in the air, he had two great feet, he was quick, skilful, brave. He didn't have a lot after that,' joked Tommy Docherty when speaking at the unveiling. Docherty was the manager when the teenage player broke through and is now sadly deceased too, as is Peter Bonetti who also addressed the gathering.

‘Once you met him [Osgood] you never forgot him and that is why the fans really idolised him because he used to get along with them,’ he said. 'Without a doubt he should be the one with a statue here.’

Two days later, when Chelsea beat Arsenal, our supporters had their chance to view the new addition to the Stamford Bridge landscape.There is a time capsule buried underneath the statue which contains among many items a copy of the 1970 FA Cup final replay programme, a replica 1970 team shirt and a poem, selected by Lynn Osgood from many entries to a competition on chelseafc.com.'It's amazing,' she said, speaking to the same website having seem the statue in all its glory.

'You talk about it for a long time when it is a work in progress but it is completely overwhelming seeing it full size. I was a nervous wreck before that moment because you have in your mind's eye what it is going to look like, but having seen it, it's a thousand times better than I imagined.'It depicts him perfectly. It's definitely got his character and personality - The King of Stamford Bridge.'