Statue for Stokoe sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn prides himself on his eye for detail – but he's made a gaffe on a fans' memorial to the legendary Black Cats' boss.
The winder on Stokoe's wristwatch is the wrong way round – making it look like the watch is telling the wrong time.
Usually the winding mechanism on a watch is next to the three on the clock face – so the oversight makes it look as though Stokoe's watch reads 10.20, even though it's actually on the right time, 4.50, the moment Sunderland won the cup.
An embarrassed Sean – who is known as Coach – said he was shocked by the error but has promised to chip off the mistake if that's what Stokoe's family, club bosses and fans want.
He explained that the gaffe came about due to a last-minute change in the statue's design. Originally he wanted the watch pointing towards the floor, so fans could see the detail, but moved it to face upwards at the statue committee's request.
He told the Echo: "It's a slip-up on my part. I originally did it so that you could read it when you looked up to the hand, then I changed it round, but I didn't realise the winder would be on the wrong side."
Coach, who works from his art studio in East Anglia has promised to head back up to Sunderland and chip off the winder.
He added: "Anyone with an angle grinder could do it – it would take me just a minute. I've not had anyone from the club contact me about it."
But super-fan Gary "SAFC" Lamb reckons Coach should leave Stokoe's statue untouched.
"It's unfortunate, but now I think it'll make it more of a talking-point," he said
Coach spent 16 hours a day for 14 weeks building the statue after watching hours of video footage and scouring photographs to capture Stokoe's dance of joy across the Wembley turf once the final whistle blew to signal Suncerland's 1973 FA Cup win.
He studied the details of how Bob tied his bootlaces and was also given the trousers and coat he had been wearing.
And despite the tiny error on the watch, Coach says he's been overwhelmed by the plaudits he's received for his creation.
He said: "Everybody I've spoke to – Jimmy Montgomery, the other players and Bob's daughter Karen Craven – love it and I hope the fans do too."
The statue was built after fans, backed by the Echo, Sunderland Council and Sunderland Football Club, raised £73,000 to build a lasting memorial to a manager they dubbed "The Messiah".


Other less-than-perfect works of art

A PAINTING by Thomas Hemy in 1893 of Sunderland playing against Aston Villa showed all the players and the crowd with clenched fists.
The reason? The artist was an expert in drawing boxers and couldn't draw fingers. The artwork is now on display in the reception at the Stadium of Light.

SCULPTOR Signor Raphael Monti created a statue of the Third Marquess of Londonderry, also known as Charles William Vane Tempest Stewart, who built Seaham Harbour.
It was unveiled on December 2, 1861, and depicts the Marquess wearing a grand hussar uniform.
The artist declared no one could find fault with it – until a blind beggar felt the statue and said the horse did not have tongue. Legend has it that Monti then committed suicide.

RESIDENTS in the North Carolina town of Rocky Mount complained that a statue of Martin Luther King looked nothing like the civil rights leader.
People said his face looked wrong, his expressions was aloof and the stance haughty. Others even thought that the pen it was holding looked like an extra finger.

A STATUE of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, in Sparrow Park, Halifax, sitting on a horse attracted attention after people claimed that the legs of the animal were wrong.
Rumour had it that the sculptor Thomas Thorneycroft committed suicide when he heard of the error, but actually went on to live for another 21 years after completing the work.