ARTIST SAM PLAYING TO THE GALLERY
A MANSFIELD artist is combining his love for football and painting to create one-off pieces to help NonLeague clubs raise vital funds.
Sam Edwards says he’s been overwhelmed by the response to a tweet he put out last week offering to paint any football ground that he will then donate to the club free of charge.
He’s already done his boyhood team Ware along with a host of others including Goole, Hallam and Worsbrough Bridge Athletic – with plenty more in the pipeline.
“I started painting football grounds a few years ago just doing the odd one,” he told The NLP. “I started with Mansfield Town and then got hooked on doing football grounds.
“I’m from Hertfordshire originally and always went to watch Ware when I was growing up so I’ve grown up with Non-League football. They were my team and I used to go home and away with my mates.
“I watched the Marine game last week against Spurs and you think about how amazing that could have been with fans in the ground.
“I’m a bit of a groundhopper as well so I came up with the idea to do this to help clubs out a bit. They’ve not got crowds at the moment so there’s no money coming in. Clubs are going to go under if there’s no money coming in which is making things a nightmare.
“Painting and football are two things I enjoy doing so I put them together. One day I’d like it to be my full-time job – that’s the dream - but at the minute I’m doing it on the side to keep myself busy.”
On a visit to Tottenham Hotspur’s new ground, Sam admits he was awestruck at their shiny new stadium – but reckons there’s a beauty in Non-League grounds that he can’t quite put his finger on.
“The response has been surprising,” he said. “I put the tweet up thinking I might get a few retweets and I’ve got lots of messages. I’ve got one for FC United of Manchester coming up which I’m looking forward to.
“I don’t know what it is, maybe I’m just a bit of a geek, but I’ve always loved football grounds. I’ve just done Ullswater United and their ground has a mountain range in the background, there’s so much variety.
“I’m a bit of a romantic, the new grounds are amazing but there’s a lack of something there. I love that with Non-League grounds you can see the houses and the town from the stand, you get to see the community behind the club.”