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A Scottish football club was ruthlessly mocked online after they unveiled a statue of William Wallace, the famous knight from the First War of Scottish Independence who helped defeat the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297.
The "Freedom" sculpture—which the National newspaper in Scotland said was "based on a likeness of Mel Gibson of Braveheart"—was installed on Sunday by the Brechin City Football Club Glebe Park.
But social media users were not impressed.
V Scottish football club is ridiculed for Braveheart-inspired 'Freedom' statue of Mel Gibson's William Wallace ====… https://t.co/gOQV2PaqvC— Επικαιρότητα - V - News (@Επικαιρότητα - V - News) 1630950124.0
Brechin City FC enthusiastically tweeted about the "Braveheart statue unveiling" early Monday morning.
The sculpture officially called "Spirit of Wallace," and created by local artist Tom Church, had been in storage after it was subjected to a decade of vandalism at its previous site in the Wallace Monument in Stirling.
This statue used to be at the foot of the Wallace monument - & I think they had to encase it, because folk kept dam… https://t.co/98BlZQIVjW— Iain Robertson (@Iain Robertson) 1630933644.0
The club said at the unveiling ceremony:
"The sun and crowds came out for a fantastic day to honor the craftsmanship of Brechiner Tommy Church and it was brilliant to see the community of all ages turn out in numbers to support the event."
Now that the Braveheart statue was publicly revealed at its new home, it was subjected to renewed mockery online.
The thing I love about this nomadic unwanted statue is that it’s *not* a statue of Wallace. It’s a statue of Mel Gi… https://t.co/Sy8zkgxFeu— Blair McDougall (@Blair McDougall) 1630931672.0
@BrechinCityFC The inspiration for this… https://t.co/FPdZxBwWVq— Michael Frizzel (@Michael Frizzel) 1630927429.0
@BrechinCityFC WTF is going on here https://t.co/Mgv9jUOgJQ— Biscuitbrownies (@Biscuitbrownies) 1630934776.0
@BrechinCityFC Is this a parody account? Have you really spent real money on this stunted Mel Gibson concrete monst… https://t.co/MtiCfM4Z6H— ian gorrie (@ian gorrie) 1630933455.0
@BrechinCityFC Ignoring all the historical inaccuracies, which I'll leave others to deal with, from an aesthetic pe… https://t.co/l8Hpnaa9CC— The Fishgod (@The Fishgod) 1630994539.0
@BrechinCityFC William Wallace definitely did not wear a kilt. This statue is about as historically accurate as Braveheart.— Matt Robinson (@Matt Robinson) 1630930652.0
It just me, or does the Braveheart statue have the same energy as when Winnie turned into a statue at the end of Ho… https://t.co/3khCQXoZtF— Graeme (@Graeme) 1631024760.0
@BrechinCityFC Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha why have you accidentally car… https://t.co/841LdedZvj— Matt Severn (@Matt Severn) 1630926369.0
@BrechinCityFC “It was brilliant to see the community of all ages turn out in numbers to support the event.” By “al… https://t.co/AZyzLpVAA4— PULP FRICTION 🇺🇸 (@PULP FRICTION 🇺🇸) 1630946185.0
Mel Gibson Braveheart Statue VS Cristiano Ronaldo's Statue 😆😆😆 https://t.co/HLU4wxsCoe— N🕊 (@N🕊) 1630931831.0
@BrechinCityFC Left: the inspiration Right: the result https://t.co/nR93Ea5Thd— Eliot Cohen (@Eliot Cohen) 1630930614.0
@BrechinCityFC Has he accidentally stepped on a piece of Lego..? https://t.co/80ADJdNhwy— Damien O'Kane (@Damien O'Kane) 1630927546.0
Another part of the statue, specfically the decapitated head at the foot of the famous knight, was not exempt from criticism.
@BrechinCityFC Why is he stood next to Derek Smalls head from spinal tap? https://t.co/U6aOKOMFq2— adrian stewart (@adrian stewart) 1630929650.0
Whether or not the controversial artwork becomes yet again a target for vandals will remain to be seen.