Fan's fight for Astle tribute
A determined Baggies fan has kicked off a battle with council cleaners who have scrubbed away graffiti daubed on a landmark Black Country bridge in homage to football hero Jeff Astle. A determined Baggies fan has kicked off a battle with council cleaners who have scrubbed away graffiti daubed on a landmark Black Country bridge in homage to football hero Jeff Astle. Council bosses are refusing to back down after the words 'Astle is the King', a fixture on Netherton's Primrose Bridge for almost 40 years, was scrubbed off just hours after being repainted. Workers had removed the famous tribute to goal-scoring hero Jeff Astle days earlier, only to find it back again yesterday along with two more similar tributes on walls a few hundred yards away on Highbridge Road. The daubings had been at the site since West Bromwich Albion's FA Cup final glory in 1968, when Astle scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Everton. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Council bosses are refusing to back down after the words 'Astle is the King', a fixture on Netherton's Primrose Bridge for almost 40 years, was scrubbed off just hours after being repainted.
Workers had removed the famous tribute to goal-scoring hero Jeff Astle days earlier, only to find it back again yesterday along with two more similar tributes on walls a few hundred yards away on Highbridge Road.
The daubings had been at the site since West Bromwich Albion's FA Cup final glory in 1968, when Astle scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Everton.
Avid Albion fan Dave Brownhill, from Dudley, said whatever the council did the bridge would always be known as Astle Bridge.
"I used to know Jeff and he told me the graffiti would make him smile when he used to pass on his way to the dogs at Dudley Wood," he said. "There was a campaign a few years ago to get a proper memorial put on the bridge although that was rejected by the council.
"It would be great to get an artist to do something properly there."
Dudley Council spokesman Phil Parker said: "We received reports of graffiti on two bridges in Highbridge Road and one in Cradley Road, Netherton yesterday morning.
"All of this graffiti has now been removed. We are one of the top performing street cleansing operators in the country and react very quickly to all reports."
