Teddy Sheringham is not only an artist on the football
pitch it seems. The Hammers striker has also shown that he has a
creative eye when explaining what the game of football means to him
through art.
Teddy joined a panel of celebrity judges at Upton Park recently to
promote a new project called 'Finding Fan Gogh' - set up by
the Barclays Premiership in conjunction with the British Arts
Council.
The aim is to find the person who can best celebrate the passion
and excitement of supporting and following football through a piece
of art - to show 'what football means to them'.
From the grit of grassroots to the Barclays Premiership elite,
supporters can choose the aspect of football that inspires them and
convey it in art form - drawing, painting, photography or collage.
As one of the judges promoting the event, Teddy was asked to submit
a piece of artwork that displays his passion for football. The
former England international chose to show how he celebrated a goal
for each of the clubs he has played for over the years, through a
series of photographs.
It featured pictures of Teddy playing at Millwall, Nottingham
Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Portsmouth and here
at West Ham United.
Talking about his role in the project, Teddy said: "It's
obvious I'm passionate about my football and I felt the best
way for me to show people how I feel about it was through pictures
of myself scoring for each of the clubs I have played for. The
goals are all special to me in different ways.
"As a judge of this competition, I'm looking forward to
seeing what people send in. I'm sure the standard of entries
will be fantastic. It's going to be interesting to see how fans
interpret football through art."
The event was launched at Upton Park earlier this week. As well as
Teddy, the judges included Radio One DJs Sara Cox and Chappers,
legendary artist Sir Peter Blake, who is famous for - among many
other things - designing the cover of The Beatles's Sgt
Pepper's album, British Arts Council chairman Sir Christopher
Frayling and Jim Hytner, Barclays Marketing manager.
Sir Christopher added: "Entrants don't need to be
professional artists, but do need to be able to put over how they
feel about the beautiful game. With the Barclays 'Finding Fan
Gogh' competition we're looking for entries that
communicate visually the passion and excitement of modern day
football."
It's really easy to take part in the competition. Entries must
be no bigger than A4 (210mm x 296mm) and no smaller than a postcard
(139mm x 107mm). Any two dimensional media can be used.
The competition is in aid of leading children's charity NCH. A
selection of the final entries will be used to produce art that
will hang in a number of NCH projects, where many of the vulnerable
children and young people that NCH works with will be able to
appreciate them.
To enter, post your artwork to:
:: Barclays Finding Fan Gogh, PO BOX 5634, London W1A 6AS
:: or send by email to: [email protected]
:: Any questions, call the Barclays Finding Fan Gogh hotline on
0207 908 6486
A prize of £10,000 will be awarded to the winning entrant,
plus the chance of having their work displayed on a giant
advertising board near their local branch of Barclays. Five
runners-up will get £1,000 each.
For more details on the Barclays 'Finding Fan Gogh'
project, visit www.barclayspremiership.com
The closing date for entries is Friday, March 30, 2007.
By Laura Burkin