A Nottingham Forest fan who started an online petition says the Brian Clough statue should be treated with respect or removed from the city centre.
Bal Cheema, 49, feels the current position of the statue, next to the Speakers’ Corner, off Old Market Square, is being ‘disrespected’ by protesters who frequently congregate around it for demonstrations.
He has launched an online petition to move it to the City Ground.
The statue is often used as a meeting point for protests, with speakers standing on the plinth to deliver speeches.
Mr Cheema’s petition has attracted only 50 signatures but sparked a heated debate about one of the city’s most famous landmarks.
He now says he believes the statue should stay put – but is glad to have drawn attention to what he says is increasing concern among fans.
“I am sick of all these protesters protesting all around the club trophy,” said Mr Cheema.
“It is disrespectful to the man himself, if you want to argue, argue somewhere else.
“We don’t need to congregate around the club trophy and we certainly don’t need to start littering around it,” the Forest fan added.
The online petition was set up this week by Mr Cheema, who lives in Derby but has been going to Reds games for 46 years, going to his first game as a three-year-old.
He says he uploaded it to see how many other fans felt the memorial was not treated with enough respect.
“The petition is my way of finding out what people’s views are, I gave them four options,” he said.
“The first one was to have a Brian Clough statue made at the City Ground. The second choice was to get the one in the city to move to the City Ground. The third choice was to have a Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at the City Ground and the final choice was to do nothing.
“The vast majority said we need a statue of both Peter (Taylor) and Brian (Clough).”
Although the petition was originally set up to move the statue from its current location, the lifelong Forest fan now says he simply wants people to take more care of it.
“My initial reaction was to get the statue removed from the current location to the City Ground but having thought about it, it is fine where it is, I just wish more people respected it more like us Forest fans do,” said Cheema.
Mr Cheema added he still believes the City Ground needs its own memorial to Clough and Taylor.
“I do believe that Nottingham Forest needs a Brian Clough and Peter Taylor statue but not necessarily the statue in the city,” he added.
Some fans opposed the idea of ever moving the statue.
The bronze statue itself is owned by the Brian Clough Statue fund, and was unveiled in 2008.
A spokesman for supporters’ group Forza Garibaldi said on Wednesday Clough “did a lot for the community and the city” and should be appreciated by more than just Forest supporters.
“Clough was a man of the people and the statue’s prominent position is a huge tribute to him,” the spokesman added.
“The position at Speaker’s Corner is also rather fitting given Clough’s outspoken nature and it serves as a presence for the club in the city and a focal point for various gatherings.”
Notts TV has contacted the Brian Clough Statue Fund for comment.
