BLACKBURN Rovers today pledged to erect a permanent and lasting memorial to Jack Walker as fans insisted they wanted a statue to remember him by.

Rovers' chief executive John Williams said the touching tribute would definitely go ahead although planning was still in its initial stages.

"It is a certainty that there will be a memorial to Jack Walker but it is something we will want discuss with Jack Walker's family and the fans," said Mr Williams. "It is something all the fans want but we want to go about it the right way to make sure we have a proper and lasting tribute to Jack." As grieving fans laid flowers at the gates of Ewood Park, opposite the Jack Walker Stand, many suggested a statue, like the one at Liverpool Football Club for Bill Shankly.

That was financed by Liverpool's then sponsors Carlsberg. It had been suggested by some fans that Blackburn with Darwen Council should foot the bill, although John Williams said he felt a memorial was something the club should do rather than the local authority

Council leader Malcolm Doherty said he believed it was more appropriate for the club to honour Jack with a memorial than the council.

"Jack Walker has put Blackburn on the map," said lifelong fan Alan Birkbeck, chairman of Ewood Blues, the independent supporters' club. "We were in the doldrums and he brought us out into the Premier League and then we became champions."

Paul Allonby, 25, a paramedic from Accrington, said: "What Jack Walker has done for this club and town has been phenomenal."

Bill Maynard, who wept openly as he laid flowers with wife Sandra and four-year-old daughter Kirsty, said he was 'devastated.'

"I just feel empty. You could talk to Jack and approach him," said Stagecoach Ribble driver Bill, of Havelock Close, Blackburn.

Pauline Perkins, secretary of the official Blackburn Supporters Association also backed the project. "We'll be having a meeting in September and we will support any plans for a statute."