Statue unveiled for late BBC Rugby Commentator Bill McLaren

A memorial statue of veteran rugby commentator Bill McLaren has been unveiled in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders.

Costing £11,500 through public subscription and donations from local organisations, Hawick community councillors hope that the statue along with a planned rugby heritage centre will boost tourism. The Statue will sit near tributes to local motorcycle heroes Steve Hislop and Jimmie Guthrie in Wilton Lodge Park in the Borders town.

The statue was unveiled at 11 o’clock this morning.  McLaren died in January 2010 aged 86, he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s.  He commentated for forty-nine years on the BBC with his first radio commentary in 1953 where Scotland lost 12-0 to Wales. The former PE teacher commentated on his final match  in 2002 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where Scotland won 27-22 over Wales and the crowd chanted “For he’s a jolly good fellow” on his fairwell.

Below is a video of the unveiling from  Borders Rugby Television, voiced by Stuart Cameron.

[Written by Callum Patterson]