Footballers’ portraits to be auctioned as fundraiser for under-12s

An online art auction has been launched to help raise funds for young isles footballers to compete in a competition on the mainland.

Four paintings of footballers are available in the auction with all money raised going towards travel costs for the Shetland under-12s trip to Glasgow for the Glasgow City Cup.

The artworks are up for grabs to the highest bidder with a blind auction taking place via the fundraiser’s Facebook page.

People can bid for the works up until 11th May with coaches hoping to raise around £400, or £100 per artwork. The works feature the likenesses of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, ex-Manchester United favourite Eric Cantona, Brazillian legend Pelé and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo.

Artist Balazs Onhausz created the artworks last summer by painting the “graffiti stencil style portraits” onto pallets which had delivered feed to his Scottish Sea Farms workplace.

The pallets “usually would have been dumped or used as firewood but because these ones were fully covered I had an idea to paint on them”, said Mr Onhausz.

“At that time the football World Cup was on so I was in the mood to do legendary football players”, he added.

The paintings had been on display at the salmon farming base at Cliftsound, Burra, where they were spotted by Calum Sinclair, a fellow Scottish Sea Farms employee and one of the coaches of the Shetland under-12s football team.

The artist agreed to donate the artworks to Mr Sinclair for the auction. It is hoped that £400 can be raised through the auction. Mr Sincair said that the tournament will present a “big learning curve” for the young players but said that it would be “fantastic for them”.

To bid on any of the artworks people should send a message to the Facebook page.