Premier League and Champion’s League football
With 300 million fans around the world, and playing in the top leagues, being asked to create a commemorative sculpture for Aston Villa was thrilling and also a brilliant challenge. They envisaged something powerful, fierce and proud, that included both the crest’s early roots in the Scottish rampant royal lion, but also that energy and pride of walking through the gates today to see the team play.
CREDIT: This is Aston Villa FC teaser trailer prior to their unveiling of the Lion statue. Filmaker: Tom Rowe.
150 years of history
This lion’s journey began with the club’s thoughts about what the lion symbol, and 150 years of history mean to its fans today. With the final selected pose chosen by the AV150 Board, as representing the essence of the club and the fighting spirit of the players and the fans.
In capturing that spirit, we wanted a lion that you didn’t want to mess with!
Leaping off two back feet into air
It was a privilege to be able to work with top engineers The Structure Workshop to create the carefully designed plans, particularly with such a lot of weight concentrated in the massive head and mane so far away from the back feet. Our expert team including the brilliant bronze casting work of Milwyn Foundry, and the expert mould-making of Al Maddocks, and the beautifully precise granite carving of Leiths, all brought together on the day with the help of the brilliant Birmingham Crane Ltd.
We painstakingly calculated where the head, limbs and tail are going to be, using smaller concept models, plumblines and grids.
With the confident steering of Andrew Philips, and assistance from artist Edward Murray, a big steel BACKIRON is welded together like a steel skeleton to hold the heavy weight of the clay
To achieve the lift of the lion taking off in the air, he was sculpted at the height he’d be seen at on his plinth.
A flexible outer surface, called an ARMATURE fills out the shape with softer metal materials like aluminium wire and chicken wire, that allow me to change the internal shape if I want to.
The CLAY is applied using hands and simple hand tools. It takes a lot work running up and down ladders, until I’m happy.
I prefer to create dramatic LARGE SHAPES & DEEP TEXTURES so that they’ll be seen from a long distance away, from the Aston Villa North Stand entrance, and from the Witton Lane Gate and the newly developed fan area – keeping the lion’s great energy as he leaps!
With a lot of patience and skill, a MOULD is created, using rubber strengthened by an outer protective shell. Its a dangerous moment, because the mould destroys the original lion clay! But with Al Maddocks’ perfect mould work, the rubber dries safely, and the mould is ready to be taken to the foundry.
Meanwhile Leiths is cutting the South African Grey GRANITE PLINTH to size and beautifully,engraved via sandblasting.
Finally the lion is CAST IN BRONZE METAL and welded together, taking a lot of finishing to get it as close as possible to the original clay. It is coloured, and installed.
The first Teaser Video
Aston Villa FC initially shared a film to prepare the fans for their plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary with a celebratory club statue, prior to unveiling it in May 2025.
CREDIT: Aston Villa Football Club
Filmaker: Tom Rowe
From The filmmaker – Tom Rowe
Tom Rowe is a filmmaker with over 13 years of experience in TV drama, documentary, promotional and branded content. Specializing in cinematic storytelling, Tom has worked on a wide range of projects, bringing compelling subjects to life through visually striking imagery.
For the Aston Villa lion sculpture, Tom has collaborated with sculptor Tanya Russell to document the journey of this impressive piece from concept to creation. Through video, he highlights the artistry and craftsmanship behind the sculpture, offering a behind-the-scenes look at its making.
Look out for more teasers on Aston Villa’s social channels, with a full behind-the-scenes feature coming soon on Tanya Russell’s Sculpture socials. Stay tuned for updates.
For filmmaking and video production inquiries, please contact:
Tel: +44 7554 015 969
Email: tomrowe.film@gmail.com
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