The Leeds United fan making the city beautiful – one electric box at a time
Electric boxes. It’s doubtful you, or anyone you know, has any strong feelings about them. Primary school teacher and part-time street artist Andy McVeigh, on the other hand, certainly does. He’s been daubing dull electric boxes around Leeds since last year, replacing the lifeless green with vibrant Leeds United-themed murals depicting classic shirts, lyrics of chants and stencils of players past and present.
Popular with fans and residents alike, McVeigh creates his designs independently – he isn’t paid for his time or imagination – simply seeking to improve the aesthetics of his local neighbourhoods and honour his home club. “There’s virtually no Leeds United art anywhere in the city, which seems daft to me,” says Andy. “Even in the City Museum there’s a pretty pathetic token gesture to the club when it’s one of the most famous things about the place.”
The murals leading to the ground have become part of the matchday experience for many, with fans tapping the boxes for luck before games. Younger fans are also enamoured with his colourful compositions. “Kids love it, which is brilliant because I’m a primary teacher and had that in mind when I did them. One bloke told me his kids asked him to do a tour of them with him.”
In September this year, 14 of McVeigh’s murals were covered in black paint in the dead of night. Murals around Elland Road were targeted, including one dedicated to the late Gary Speed, which was destroyed on the eve of his 50th birthday. A group of busybodies dubbed Leeds Residents Against Graffiti took responsibility, emailing the Yorkshire Evening Post to outline their dubious reasoning. Citing a lack of interest in football and claiming to “represent the 90% of the citizens of Leeds who are not obsessed with Leeds United,” the group vowed to cover up all of the football-themed boxes across the city.
McVeigh offered to sit down with them in an effort to build bridges, but the group said: “We have no interest in ‘having a coffee’ with this person. He simply needs to desist in his vandalism.” McVeigh was devastated. “Obviously I was gutted. Each one probably takes two or three evenings to do. At my own cost. It was bewildering why someone destroyed them. A very ‘troubled’ person, I guess. The person responsible sent very sinister emails, which were actually quite disturbing.”
Local fans were aghast at the senseless destruction of Andy’s quirky artwork. “The vandalism was nothing but targeted bullying,” says season ticket holder Jack Sanderson, who believes the murals have become a symbol for the positivity returning to Elland Road in recent years. “The art itself is absolutely brilliant and an asset to the matchday experience. Projects like Andy’s have been a light in a very dark place and Andy himself is absolutely golden too. He genuinely just wants to make people happy through his talent.”
The club and community rallied around McVeigh, fundraising to replenish his paint supplies and allow him a few days off to repair his artwork. Leeds United offered him and his son complimentary tickets for his efforts and, together with Leeds City Council and Virgin Media, they commissioned McVeigh to officially decorate the electric boxes surrounding Elland Road.
He has since returned to his work, bolstered by the positive reaction of fans and neighbours alike. “Every time I’m out painting now, I get loads of people beeping horns, shouting encouragement, giving me the Leeds salute. Tons of people stop for a chat. The reaction was genuinely overwhelming. Sounds cheesy but it’s true. It’s like the whole city came together. Even people who lived in that area and don’t like football said they loved the art and were disgusted by it being vandalised.”
Now that Andy’s works are official commissions, any further effort to deface them will be a criminal offence, effectively safeguarding his art for future generations of fans. Will he be painting a promotion mural soon? “I’ve got a backlog of about 10 ideas I want to do at the moment but, if we actually go back to the Premier League, that one will take priority. Please let us go up this time.”
• This article appeared first in When Saturday Comes• WSC are on Twitter and Facebook and they have a new podcast