Wayne Rooney’s legendary bicycle kick goal for Manchester United against Manchester City has been brought to life on The Thames using London’s famous Tower Bridge as a giant goal. The dramatic recreation marks a national poll to decide the best ever Premier League goal, celebrating the kick off of Premier League football on Amazon Prime Video this week.
The athletic strike scored in February 2011 was named the best Premier League goal of all time in a comprehensive Amazon poll of British football fans, ahead of Prime Video’s live and exclusive broadcast of twenty Premier League matches this December, with the first games kicking on 3rd , 4th and 5th December.
The goal, which pipped world class strikes by David Beckham and Dennis Bergkamp into top spot, was brought to life in a spectacular sculpture, with Rooney and keeper Joe Hart each standing 12ft tall on a 5,000 square foot segment of pitch and the iconic landmark Tower Bridge standing in for the Old Trafford goal, the size of 140 standard football goals.
Rooney’s aerial strike, which received the largest vote (26%), wasn’t the only glory for Manchester United, who also claimed Best Goalkeeper (Peter Schmeichel) with over half of the vote at 53%,
Best Manager (Sir Alex Ferguson (63%)) and Best Ever Team (Man Utd’s 1998-99 title-winning squad (24%)).
Best Manager (Sir Alex Ferguson (63%)) and Best Ever Team (Man Utd’s 1998-99 title-winning squad (24%)).
Dancing into the Best Celebration category was Peter Crouch for his signature robot dance with 19% voting for him. The recently retired player and new presenter of Prime Video’s Back of the Net even
came to The Thames to collect his award and kicked a ball towards the Tower Bridge goal before re- enacting his winning celebration.
came to The Thames to collect his award and kicked a ball towards the Tower Bridge goal before re- enacting his winning celebration.
Other honours from the poll were given to Alan Shearer (Best English Player (32%)), Best Save (Peter Schmeichel (21%)) and Pantomime Villain (Vinnie Jones (26%)), with Delia Smith’s ‘Where are you, let’s be having you’ rant at Norwich fans voted the Funniest Premier League Moment. Following the goal recreation at Tower Bridge, celebrity football fans including Jack Fincham, Ovie Soko, Laura Lou Crane, Caspar Lee and Bradley Simmonds recreated Nani’s cross that led to Rooney’s stunning strike in 2011, by crossing a Prime Video ball from a special platform to towards the airborne Rooney, the first challenge of its kind ever staged on The Thames.
Amazon Prime Video’s live and exclusive coverage of the Premier League begins this Tuesday, 3rd December. Every Premier League club will be featured across two full rounds of 20 matches this week, including the first Merseyside derby of the season on Wednesday, and all matches on Boxing Day.
