A MEMORIAL garden celebrating the life of former Sky Blues manager Jimmy Hill is being unveiled at the Ricoh Arena this Saturday.
A 15-minute service to mark the opening of the Jimmy Hill Memorial Garden will begin at 1pm before the Sky Blues’ final home game of the season against Sheffield United.
Jamie Hill, son of Jimmy, will be cutting the ribbon and John Witcombe, Dean of Coventry Cathedral will be scattering the ashes and performing a short ceremony.
The Jaguar Land Rover Brass Band will also be performing before, during and after the service, culminating in a rendition of the Sky Blue song.
“During the memorial service at the Cathedral we were presented with an urn of some of Jimmy’s ashes by his wife,” said Joe Elliott MBE, former Coventry City chairman. “We decided that it’d be a good opportunity to bring Jimmy home on a final journey to the football club.
“Jimmy Hill made Coventry City into a big club, and people remember him for this.
“He is iconic not only for the wonderful work he did in football during his lifetime and the media, but as far as Coventry supporters are concerned, he gave us a football club in the 1960s that followed through to the next 34 years to the First Division. He made such a difference to our lives by allowing us to support a wonderful football club with great success.”
The Jimmy Hill Memorial Garden is an extension of the current memorial garden, and will boast a granite sculpture where fans can go to pay their respects and scatter ashes of family members.
Over the last few weeks a variety of local companies have donated their materials and expertise to make the creation of the garden possible.
Chris Anderson, executive vice chairman of Coventry City, added: “Coventry City and the city of Coventry owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Jimmy.
“It is important that we continue to remember and celebrate his massive contribution to the club as we continue to drive the club forward and build on the wonderful legacy he left us.
“The scattering of his ashes and dedication of the memorial garden in his memory at the Ricoh Arena is a fitting tribute.”
