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\nScottish football club is ridiculed for Braveheart-inspired 'Freedom' statue of Mel Gibson's William Wallace\n======\n\nhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9962581/Scottish-lower-league-club-draws-laughs-outrage-unveiling-Braveheart-statue-outside-ground.html\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/KXBf9c50ic— \u0395\u03c0\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1 - V - News (@\u0395\u03c0\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1 - V - News) 1630950124
Brechin City FC enthusiastically tweeted about the "Braveheart statue unveiling" early Monday morning.
BRAVEHEART STATUE UNVEILING\n\nWe were delighted to host the unveiling of the Braveheart Statue yesterday afternoon at its new home at Glebe Park.\n\nIt was brilliant to see the community of all ages turn out in numbers to support the event.\n\nRead more https://brechincity.com/bcfc/p/n/2518\u00a0pic.twitter.com/Dj84pzsKJs— Brechin City FC (@Brechin City FC) 1630915526
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 damaging it. Probably because it\u2019s an awful statue in so very many ways!https://twitter.com/brechincityfc/status/1434789825299812354\u00a0\u2026— Iain Robertson (@Iain Robertson) 1630933644
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\u2019s *not* a statue of Wallace. It\u2019s a statue of Mel Gibson.https://twitter.com/brechincityfc/status/1434789825299812354\u00a0\u2026— Blair McDougall (@Blair McDougall) 1630931672
The inspiration for this\u2026pic.twitter.com/FPdZxBwWVq— Michael Frizzel (@Michael Frizzel) 1630927429
WTF is going on herepic.twitter.com/Mgv9jUOgJQ— Biscuitbrownies (@Biscuitbrownies) 1630934776
Is this a parody account? Have you really spent real money on this stunted Mel Gibson concrete monstrosity-when you could have actually helped people with it?— ian gorrie (@ian gorrie) 1630933455
Ignoring all the historical inaccuracies, which I'll leave others to deal with, from an aesthetic perspective, it's shite. The expression looks like he's (?) Dropped the ball on his foot, the stance is bizarre, and the proportions are all wrong.— The Fishgod (@The Fishgod) 1630994539
William Wallace definitely did not wear a kilt. This statue is about as historically accurate as Braveheart.— Matt Robinson (@Matt Robinson) 1630930652
It just me, or does the Braveheart statue have the same energy as when Winnie turned into a statue at the end of Hocus Pocus?pic.twitter.com/tE8W7qfMKO— Graeme (@Graeme) 1631024760
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha why have you accidentally carved a statue of Mel Gibson with his kilt caught in a train door? Wallace didn\u2019t look anything like that— Matt Severn (@Matt Severn) 1630926369
\u201cIt was brilliant to see the community of all ages turn out in numbers to support the event.\u201d\nBy \u201call ages\u201d, they mean the ages between 75-100.pic.twitter.com/1okDO6NQb8— PULP FRICTION \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PULP FRICTION \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1630946185
Mel Gibson\nBraveheart Statue \nVS\nCristiano Ronaldo's \nStatue \npic.twitter.com/HLU4wxsCoe— N\ud83d\udd4a (@N\ud83d\udd4a) 1630931831
Left: the inspiration\nRight: the resultpic.twitter.com/nR93Ea5Thd— Eliot Cohen (@Eliot Cohen) 1630930614
Has he accidentally stepped on a piece of Lego..?pic.twitter.com/80ADJdNhwy— Damien O'Kane (@Damien O'Kane) 1630927546
Another part of the statue, specfically the decapitated head at the foot of the famous knight, was not exempt from criticism.
Why is he stood next to Derek Smalls head from spinal tap?pic.twitter.com/U6aOKOMFq2— adrian stewart (@adrian stewart) 1630929650
Whether or not the controversial artwork becomes yet again a target for vandals will remain to be seen.
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