A famous painting depicting a football match in Bolton is set to go on auction today, Wednesday October 19.

‘Going to the Match’ by LS Lowry will go under the hammer at Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art evening sale in London this evening and is expected to fetch a whopping £8m.

This would make it the most expensive of the legendary Manchester artist's collection.

Going to the Match sells for millions ...and is coming home

Painted in 1953, it shows crowds gathered at the former home of Bolton Wanderers, Burnden Park.

Bolton Wanderers fan and art-lover Neville Turner understands the cultural and historical importance of the painting.

He said: “In October 1953, the then titled Football Association - the FA - sponsored an art exhibition in London with the then challenging title ‘Football and the Fine Arts’.

"In those days many would have failed to see any obvious connection between the working man's favourite sport and the fine arts.

“The FA offered £3,000 in prize money and it proved extremely popular with some 1,700 entries, all of which showed football players depicted either in paintings or as sculptures.

“This £3,000 was a huge sum in 1953 and may account for the huge number of entries for the four categories, which including painting.

“Just 150 entries were selected for the exhibition, including the Lowry painting, and his entry won a prize in the picture category.”

The painting was acquired by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) in 1999 for a fee of £1.9m, Neville says.

It was then loaned to The Lowry in Salford and it has been on display there ever since.

The Players Foundation – the charitable offshoot of the PFA - says the current financial crisis has forced it to reassess how it manages its assets in order to ensure its work can continue.

There has been something of a coordinated effort to keep the painting out of the hands of a private collector in the hopes that the painting can remain on public display.

READ MORE: 'It would be a great loss' Wanderers on famous LS Lowry painting

Neville added: “Lowry seems to have only ever painted three football scenes including our Bolton Wanderer's picture.

“In today's high inflation climate, it is possible that the painting might be seen as a strong hedge against inflation by wealthy art lovers and therefore fetch a very high price - perhaps a world record for a Lowry picture.”

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