Today's the day the statue of Kevin Beattie, regularly voted Ipswich Town's greatest ever player, will be unveiled in Portman Road.

Hundreds of fans are expected to turn out for the event, which starts at 9.30am and will feature many club legends.

The statue was put in place on Thursday morning, but will remain under wraps until 10.15am, when Kevin's daughter Emma will perform the unveiling.

It has been crowdfunded by Ipswich Town fans, and produced by sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn, who created both the Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey statues.

The statue campaign has been led by the East Anglian Daily Times/Ipswich Star, alongside BBC Radio Suffolk and the TWTD website, and was launched after The Beat’s death in 2018 at the age of 64.

BBC Radio Suffolk’s Mark Murphy, who is on the campaign team, will host a live broadcast from 9.30am-11am, and be the master of ceremonies.

Yesterday, Ipswich Town's interim manager John McGreal said he had met Beattie several times.

He said: “Especially going back to the Premier League days, he was around the games, I think he was doing a lot of commentary as well. If you didn’t see him at the ground, you heard him on the commentary.

“It’s a brilliant occasion for The Beat, a fantastic player for the club and it’s going to be highlighted with his statue, which is fantastic."

Beattie stands in Portman Road, diagonally opposite Planet Blue, on land provided by Ipswich Borough Council. The council commissioned the statue, and played a key role in bringing the project to fruition, with funding supplied through the campaign.

The East of England Co-op has also donated the stone cladding and stonemasonry work to the project through HL Perfitts, a part of the Co-op’s family of businesses.

Road closures will be in place on Saturday in Portman Road and Alderman Road. Portman Road Car Park C will only be accessible from Friars Bridge Road.

Ipswich Town are supporting the unveiling, with the FanZone open at an earlier time of 10.45am ahead of the Sunderland match to allow supporters to visit immediately after the unveiling.