The beautiful game: revived art prize gives football its creative due once more | Emma John

The revived Football Art Prize is showing that football can inspire a far wider range of art than portraits of famous players or iconic matches. Its return matters because football and the art world have long been seen as separate, despite the sport’s deep personal and cultural significance.

The prize began in 1953, backed by the Arts Council, and helped bring LS Lowry’s *Going To The Match* to public attention. This year’s exhibition, at the National Football Museum after a run at Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery, includes still lifes, documentary photography and satirical paintings; the winning video, Alina Akbar’s *Footwork*, links keepy-uppy with Kathak dance to explore identity and South Asian migration.