Football artists to follow

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football artist federico manasse
From football artist Federico Manasse’s Instagram feed

There’s a captivating beauty to football. Ever since a ball has been kicked anywhere in the world there have been people there to capture it. Here are some of the best football artists out there to follow.

I remember being at The Lowry in Salford and coming face-to-face with LS Lowry’s Going to the Match, which was purchased by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) in 1999 for £1.9m and loaned to the gallery. It depicts people milling towards Bolton Wanderers’ former home at Burnden Park and was painted in 1953. It’s a great example of a celebrated artist capturing a sporting and social moment.

Art and football are symbiotic, whether it’s World Cup posters or Sussex club Lewes FC’s match promotion posters the English non-leagues.

Social media has since helped contemporary artists capturing football moments spread their work. In no order, here are some of our favourite football artist to follow and do please share your recommendations in the comments section or tweet us.

Chris Lee football blogger outsidewrite.co.uk
The editor, courtesy of Panini Cheapskates

Panini Cheapskates

Alex and Sian Pratchett from Oxford started drawing caricatures of footballers during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, completing all 639 in time for the final between Germany and Argentina.

They were at it again for charity for Euro 2016 and are a class act on Twitter. They even did one of me once as part of a charity campaign!

Visit website.

Martin Gordopelota

Buenos Aires-based Martin Gordopelota paints his colourful murals depicting the Argentine game on canvas and on walls around his home country.

His images capture the amateur game – the fan’s experience – rather than the game itself and often include pre- and post-match rituals.

Visit website.

Federico Manasse

I first came across AC Milan fan Federico Manasse with my involvement with Italian football site, The Gentleman Ultra. His work appears in These Football Times and Guardian Sports Network, among others.

Visit website.

David Squires

Cartoonist David Squires combines cutting wit with a distinctive drawing style that regularly has me in stitches.

Check out his work for the Guardian here.

Hally Ink’s goalkeeping shirt mug. Epic!

Gavin Hall

Gavin Hall is an illustrator based in the north-east of England who creates a cracking range of football nostalgia merch under the name Hally Ink.

As a former amateur goalkeeper, I bought one of Gavin’s mugs featuring a retrospective of goalkeeping jerseys (right). See how many you can spot…

Visit website.

Dan Leydon

Dan is based in Sligo, Ireland, and works for a number of big brands. He has a variety of styles and a brilliant sense of humour to bring those images to life.

Visit website.

Poorly Drawn Arsenal

If you support Arsenal, then this site is for you. The artist says; “I have questionable artistic skills and a love for Arsenal. This is where I combine the two.”

Visit website.

Anna Williams

Anna can usually be found designing stationery and cards, but her sketchbook for football from the Welsh leagues is quite something.

Check her work out on Twitter.

John Sheehan

Another Ireland-based artist, John works with a number of brands and media companies and his portfolio includes some cracking pre-match posters.

Visit website.

Barry Masterson

Another Irish illustrator. Barry’s contrast of vibrant colour and shade make for distinctive portraits. I’m a big fan!

Visit website.

Who should we add to the list? Let us know in the comments section or via Twitter.