Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has set up a special sport-based art exhibition in the National Football Museum.
Spotlighting work by fine artist Michael Browne, who created a series of pieces exploring the relationship between sport, art and modern society, the new exhibition covers everything from “human rights, equality, injustice, the impact of power and elevations to a godlike status.”
Cantona has never been one to shy away from his icon status.
Entitled ‘From Moss Side to Marseille’ – referencing Browne and Cantona’s respective places of birth – the exhibition was commissioned by the Frenchman with the aim of celebrating influenced sporting heroes who used their positions to advocate for social change, even in the face of great personal cost.
Michael Browne and Eric Cantona unveiling the new exhibitCantona and Sir Alex, a.k.a. The King and The BossCredit: National Football Museum
Browne has been creating art since he was a child and his talent was quickly recognised, going on to study at the Chelsea School of Art before completing a Master’s at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has gone on to enjoy exhibits all across the UK, earning him public and critical acclaim.
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Having grown up locally and as a football fan, it was hard for Manchester’s rich sporting heritage not to find its way into his. Similar to fellow artist Stanley Chow, Browne soon became known for his use of sporting figures in his art, though he favours a neoclassical style over polygon-heavy geometric pop art.
Though both the man himself and football feature heavily throughout the installation, the significance of key sporting and cultural icons like Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph and more are also highlighted.
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Maradona and the Western Wall (2020)
Algeria Counter-Revolution (2021)
The Art of the Game (1997)
England and Brazil Real-estate and Human Rights (2019)
Muhammad Ali Freedom Without a Crown (2018)
John Carlos and Tommy Smith for 30 Pieces of Silver (2018)
Wilma Rudolph Throne of Impermanence. A letter to my Future (2022)
Carlos Caszely Theatre of Nightmares (2021)
Jesse Owens Scales of Injustice (2017)
Eric Cantona Family Portrait (2022)
As for his connection with Cantona, the two influential Mancunian figures struck up a friendship back in 1996, when Browne began working on his famous The Art of the Game painting, which chronicled Cantona’s return to football after his infamous ban. Something about a kung-fu kick?
Debuting on Saturday, 14 January, each piece is said to be ‘oversized’ and inspired by a different sports story throughout history, as well as making a statement about the associated athlete behind it, so there’s plenty to get stuck into.
Visitors will not only get to find out more about Brown and Cantona’s unique relationship through the lens of the exhibition, but they will also get to look at never before seen items from his personal archive.
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Better still, the National Footy Museum will be providing a whole host of activities in conjunction with the exhibition, including a performance by comedy duo Fan/Girl, life drawing sessions, a make-your-own ‘King Eric’ crown during half-term and lots more.
The National Football Museum has announced a new, thought-provoking exhibition jointly curated by artist @mjbfineart & France & Man Utd legend, Eric Cantona.
Writing in a statement on the museum’s website, Michael Browne said: “It has been a pleasure working in partnership with the National Football Museum to curate this exhibition, and it is very fitting for the collection to be debuted in Manchester.”
Cantona touched on his great excitement for the work to finally be seen all in one place, remarking: “There are many unsung heroes featured in the collection and it is time their stories are told.”
Admission is absolutely free, you only need to grab your tickets from the website HERE.
Featured Image — National Football Museum/Michael Browne
Art & Culture
Chester Zoo named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors
Emily Sergeant
Congratulations are in order, yet again, for Chester Zoo… as this time its been one of England’s most popular attractions.
Merely months after being named the UK’s best zoo for the second year running, thanks to receiving more than 11,000 ‘excellent’ reviews from TripAdvisor, Chester Zoo has now got itself another prestigious title, as a major VisitEngland (VE) report has ranked it the third most-visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England – and the most visited outside of London.
The national tourist board for England gathered information from a total of 1,373 attractions across the country, and ranked the UK’s biggest charity zoo as the third overall in terms of popularity, with a whopping 1.9 million visitors in 2024 alone.
The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was second place with 2.3 million visitors.
When it comes to free attractions, on the other hand, it wad the British Museum that claimed the top spot with 6.5 million visitors, while the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) took second place, and the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) got third.
So as you can see, the south and London in particular is a pretty dominating force in England’s tourism industry – which is why it’s even more impressive to see Chester Zoo ranked so highly.
The new VE title also comes after the zoo was recently given £4 million of lottery funding to help ‘transform’ the local environment and restore wildlife habitats across the Cheshire and wider North West region.
Not only that, but if course follows Chester Zoo’s unveiling of its new immersive experience named Heart of Africa, which is the the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK and is home to 57 iconic African species.
Chester Zoo has been named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation,” commented Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, Dom Strange.
“Whether it’s caring for highly-threatened animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing Government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries, we’re fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.
“But none of this would be possible without our visitors.
“Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work, so we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.”
Featured Image –
Art & Culture
Huge street food festival to take over Rochdale Town Hall Square this month
Thomas Melia
Rochdale Town Hall Square will be packed with foodies galore later this month as it marks the return of its popular food festival.
Street Eat is one of the biggest days of the year in the Rochdale calendar, organised by the Rochdale Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID), welcoming food and drinks stalls from local vendors and restaurants.
A whole host of free activities will be happening throughout the day including live Punch and Judy shows, face painting and even a caricaturist sketching portraits too.
At the food festival, there will be a live music stage with a line-up featuring tribute act fABBAlous, country rockers Between The Vines, pop soloist Saskia Starkie, a pop and rock choir from Rochdale Music Service and more.
Soak up the sun while tucking into some foodie delights.There’s plenty of kids activities taking place at Street Eat in Rochdale.
Street Eat is part of a spectacular line up of festivals, live performances, exhibitions and art during Rochdale’s year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture 2025–26.
The title, awarded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority celebrates the town’s rich history, creativity, talent and diverse arts scene.
This year, Street Eat is trekking across the globe once more for its flavours with Greek, Indian, Italian, German, American and English cuisines making up the menu for the day.
Tried and tested The Manc favourites are taking part too, with hearty food offerings from The Baum and equally delicious pizzas by Vicolo Del Vino – both of which can be found in our Rochdale guide.
Two much-loved local eateries, home-kitchen-turned-popular-takeaway, Chino’s Kitchen and Indian street food pop-up, Bombay Brew are joining forces for the day as Punjabi Food Corner, yes please.
If you’ve got more of a sweet tooth, there’s Brew Box who’ll be serving up waffles, Cake Loves Cakes, as well as a whole host of dessert stalls, if you don’t get a sugar rush you’ve done it wrong.
There’s a variety of food options at Street Eat in Rochdale.Sip and Sparkle are bringing their array of drinks to this food festival.
Organiser and Business Improvement District (BID) manager, Paul Ambrose said: “Street Eat showcases the vibrant food and drink the town has to offer as well as being a really fun day to share with friends and family.“
“Whether you’re wanting to try something new or just want your favourite food to accompany an ice-cold drink while listening to some live music, Street Eat has you covered.
“It’s going to be another great day in the fabulous setting of the new Rochdale Town Hall Square.”
Street Eat is taking place at Rochdale Town Hall Square on Saturday 28 June from 11am to 7pm and admission is completely free – for more information visit HERE.
Danny Jones -
16th January 2023 
