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On the back of the Highbury print I created as part of my Homesick Project, numerous Arsenal fans have asked if I would attempt a David Rocastle illustration. He has very quickly become the most requested player I’ve been asked to draw, so I thought I’d better give it a go.
I felt it was important to ensure the Rocastle family were ok with me chosing “Rocky” as my subject. So I was delighted when his son, Ryan Rocastle, gave his backing to the piece. The quote I have used is from David himself and reads “Remember who you are, what you are, and who you represent”.
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I recently teamed up with football author Paul Smith regarding a project I had been considering for some time. My aim was to create a series of posters focussing on English football stadiums that are no longer with us. Paul kindly agreed to let me use some of the source materials / maps he and his wife had collected over the years during his own research. I will keep adding additional clubs to the project dependent on demand, so please drop me line or use the comments section below if you would like your own club inlcuded
Due to an unprecedented demand, the second ground i decided to tackle in this series was Highbury. The quote shown in the bottom right hand corner is that of Herbert Chapman – “Whoever heard of Gillespie Road… It’s Arsenal around here” – those famous words were uttered during his quest to change the name of Gillespie Road Tube Station to Arsenal. The date, for those that are interested, coincides with the errection of the North Bank roof.
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This project began life in the experimental area of my site, essentially I wanted to recreate football’s greatest moments in a Sensible Soccer style. The first piece i did paid homage to Maradona vs Belgium from 1982, but i soon wondered how easy it would be to bring these images to life and create entire sequences.
The animations you see below are the ongoing results of that investigation. Please use the comments section at the foot of the page if you’d like to make your own Sensi suggestions and i’ll see what i can do.
Obviously the 1990 World Cup had it’s fair share of iconic moments and images to choose from. But it’s this masterclass in cynicism that earns Benjamin Massing a special place in my heart. If you’ve never seen the original incident before, feast your eyes on this.
An iconic and often misunderstood moment from the 1974 World Cup. For those unaware of the backstory to this game, I would strongly recommend taking a look at this article from David Fox via State of the Game - whilst for any pedants among you – here’s the original footage to use as a cross reference.
This was my first attempt at recreating events from a specific match. If you hadn’t already worked it, out this was meant to be Jürgen Klinsmann’s trademark celebration during Spurs 3-4 win at Hillsborough.
This was my first attempt at bringing these little guys to life, think of this as the lads during a training session if you like. Looking back I wish I’d added in some tiny cones now.
I recently teamed up with football author Paul Smith regarding a project I had been considering for some time. My aim was to create a series of posters focussing on English football stadiums that are no longer with us. Paul kindly agreed to let me use some of the source materials / maps he and his wife had collected over the years during his own research. I will keep adding additional clubs to the project dependent on demand, so please drop me line or use the comments section below if you would like your own club included
I decided to choose Maine Road as my starting point, for no other reason than i found it aesthetically pleasing. However, I soon became involved in a conversation with MCFC historian Gary James (author of Manchester – The City Years), I was pleasantly surprised to hear that I had struck gold with the layout I had chosen (a full transcript can be found at the foot of this page). Gary also unearthed a wonderful quote from City legend Bert Trautmann shown in the bottom left corner of the print – “It’s Where I Belong, It’s Where I Grew Up”
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That’s a very important layout of Maine Rd. It is accurate for 1934 & shows the corner Platt Lane roof on plan. In 1935 the rest of Platt Lane was roofed, so the ground was only like that between 1931-35. This is exactly as it was when 84,569 attended Citys record crowd game in March 1934. You’ve picked the right plan/year.
When I researched and wrote Farewell To Maine Road (Pubd 2003) I spent quite some time trying to piece together the various ground developments. Prior to that book most articles, books, MCFC official histories etc. claimed that the old Platt Lane Stand was built at some point ‘before the second world war’.
Using photos and then plans from Manchester Town Hall, I uncovered that the main developments in the first 20 years were:
- 1923 Main Stand built and roofed (as photo posted)
- 1931 Platt Lane/Main Stand corner reprofiled to have a higher rake, seating installed on part of the new profiled steps, a higher tunnel wall (anyone who remembers Platt Lane will remember that the corner tunnel and corner terracing were different to the rest of the ground/stand), a new roof, and a ladies toilet (quite a big deal in 1931). Capacity must have been approx 85,000
- 1935 the rest of the Platt Lane Stand was built by extending out the back on wooden frame and then roofing rest of stand. Capacity was increased to about 88,000.
The plan was then to roof the Main Stand/Scoreboard (North) Stand corner in 1939, roof the North Stand c. 1944 and then tackle the Kippax c.1950 (by enlarging it – aim was for Maine Road to hold over 100,000!).
Those plans never happened because of WW2 and when peace resumed chance of improving Maine Road disappeared until the Kippax was extended (slightly) and roofed in 1957.
Capacity had reduced by that point because of legislation following Bolton disaster (another forgotten disaster sadly – so much has been made of football not learning from Hillsborough but football also didn’t learn from Burnden Park disaster or Ibrox….).
I was recently commissioned to produce an illustrative spread for Issue 1 of ‘XI – North American Soccer Quarterly‘. My contribution was a piece titled ‘Celtic’s Black Arrow: A Portrait of Father and Son’, which looks at the fascinating backstory of Gil Heron.
Given Boro’s belt tightening and modest payroll in recent years, the loan market has an ever increasing value to us. Over the next few months (and depending on how active we are) I will be chatting to fans of the parent clubs we are currently dealing with.
If you cast your collective minds back to 2006, you may remember that Middlesbrough FC was caught at a bit of a crossroads. Steve McClaren had just been poached by the FA (so far untarnished by his ‘Wally with the Brolly’ moniker) and we were once again left with a choice of going for managerial youth or experience.
Thought I’d include this Ian Rush piece I’ve been working on recently. Haven’t quite decided how im going to finish it off yet but it would be good to get some early feedback on it. I’m actually considering doing a series of monochrome designs in this style so stay tuned.
This is just a repository for some of my favourite Boro photos, if you have any of your own you would like to submit then please get in touch via the contact form
I decided to have a go at depicting the Italian tactical system known as Catenaccio. Taking the literal translation of the word, i decided to incorporate a door bolt with table football.
The idea being that even if you tried to undo the bolt, the way the players are positioned i.e. their ‘formation’ makes it impossible to open.
Available to buy as:
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Footnote:
If you want to learn a little more about Catenaccio and the myth that surrounds it, I can recommend this article from worldcupblog.org – The Catenaccio Myth
I’ve been been working on a few side projects of late, one of which im calling ‘Faux Campaigns’. Essentially I’m picking a selection of big name football brands and trying to give them my own illustrative spin.
The first company I chose to feature was UMBRO. My aim was to respect their current ‘TAILORED’ campaign but also give it a bit of a twist, see what you think.
FOOTNOTE: The recent sale of Umbro to Iconix has made the first design in this series strangely prophetic
Next up in my ‘Awful Truth’ series is a game that’s been recalled and retold by numerous Boro fans of a certain age.
The 1988 play-off final against Chelsea is often remembered with equal measures of creative license and hyperbole from the Boro end; so I thought it would be interesting to hear from the Chelsea side of the perimeter fence.
The author for this one is the excellent Tim Rolls, who writes regularly for the CFCUK fanzine and who’s personal blog PlainsOfAlmeria is definitely worth making some time for.
One of the games I have been desperate to feature as part of my ‘Awful Truth’ series is the promotion decider that occurred between Middlesbrough and Leicester City in 1988.
With it being such a significant game in MFC history, I was particularly pleased that Gary Silke, author of the outstanding Got Not Got, agreed to give his own thoughts on that eventful day.
This magazine was first published free via the Evening Gazette in 1991. Click on either edge of the magazine to flick through it’s pages. Or expand the document to read it in full-screen. Clicking on a page in full-screen mode will magnify the text even further.
The inspiration for this piece came from Del Piero’s farewell message to the fans of Juventus, specifically the part where he said – “No colour will ever be brighter for me than black and white”
With this is mind I wanted to do an illustration that was monochrome and minimalist. The emphasis being on the player himself, with only a suggestion of the black and white stripes of Juve in the background.
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Footnote:
I would also like to draw your attention to this brilliant article from James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) who gives his own personal assessment on Del Piero’s career – Saying Goodbye To Del Piero
The aim of this piece was to try and convey the simplicity of football and to emphasise how the game is often over complicated or over analysed.
I kept thinking that ‘childs play’ would suit the design well, due to its innocence and naivety, so I decided to create a football using a ‘dot-to-dot’ technique. The idea being that at first glance, the shape appears to be complicated, but if you just join the dots it soon becomes apparent what it is i.e. dont think about it too much.
The quote I have included is taken from Bill Shankly, I thought it was particularly apt as it encompasses all levels of the game, right up to the ham-fisted goings on within the walls of FIFA.
I was recently asked to design some promotional posters for an upcoming charity match taking place at the Riverside Stadium on May 11th 2012. Last years match saw fundraising top the £30,000 mark and its hoped that an additional £10,000 can be raised this time round.
Having already competed (and I use that term loosely) in the 2011 Sir Bobby Robson Foundation charity match, I couldn’t wait to play again this year. The match itself is in memory of Tom Gardiner (the mascot in the 2011 charity match) who recently lost his battle against an inoperable tumour. Also Grant Harrison, who played in the last two charity matches but was tragically killed whilst on holiday with his family earlier this year.
The professionals who agreed to play this year include George Boateng, Ugo Ehiogu, Gaizka Mendieta, Bernie Slaven, Colin Cooper, Curtis Fleming and Neil Maddison.
The SBRF ‘Just Giving’ page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/sbrfcharitymatch2012
Zlatan Ibrahimovic illustration done as part of my ongoing A-Z project
