Meet Pete Sibley: the man who draws cursed cartoons of famous footballers that you’ll never see the same way again
Social media can often be a two-sided coin: sometimes you see humanity at its absolute best, other times less so. This is neither of those — we just can't stop laughing.
While scrolling aimlessly through Twitter over the last few days, we looked beyond all the worthwhile news stories and cutting-edge journalism and, instead, we chose to spend hours looking at daft, cartoon-based portraits of some of football’s most recognisable faces.
Caricatures of footballers are nothing new — they spark memories of walking down the beachfront on holiday and eyeing up fake Real Madrid shirts and so on — but these comedic little cartoons are like the kind you’re used to seeing.
Drawn by artist Pete Sibley, whose popularity online is growing with each comical even if admittedly cursed cartoon, he depicts footballers, managers and in a simple but ever-surreal style.
Regularly fusing two individuals’ likenesses together in an almost uncanny valley-esque manner, some are more exaggerated and silly than others, but one thing’s for sure: you’ll struggle to look at these people the same way ever again.
‘Guardihaaland’‘ten Hagrid’This one doesn’t have a title, it’s just terrifying.
We’re not joking when we say he’s got literally dozens of these creepy combinations across his social media channels: 71 and counting, as far as we’re aware.
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In fact, we know it’s at least 71 because you can literally buy Pete’s sketchbook which is filled with copies of his humorous drawings, not to mention individual prints if you want to gift someone perhaps the most unique and inexplicable kinds of artwork on the market.
These faces might be something, but we’d love to see the kind you get when your friend or loved one opens up one of these bad boys.
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Here are some of his most random examples of late:
‘Carnacho’‘Paul Frogba‘‘Kevin de Bacon’
And just in case you were wondering, he doesn’t just focus solely on Man United and City figures either — though he certainly seems to have a knack for capturing their essence whilst also making them absolutely ridiculous.
Pete sketches players, managers and more from across all the football leagues, each just as hilarious ad confounding as the last.
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When we asked him for a bit of background about himself and what his inspiration was, he simply said: “I just thought maybe somebody else would also find them funny.”
You were absolutely right, Pete.
‘Harry Quagmire’‘Barteta’‘Moe Salah’He does a lot of amusing animation-based ones but that Salah one is straight-up nightmare fuel
To be honest, we think we like him staying somewhat of an enigma. On the one hand, it adds to his reputation (move over Banksy) and on the other, we’re not sure we want to dive too far into the mind that conjures up these absolutely wonderful but often unsettling sketches.
We’ll warn you that once you start going down the Pete Sibley rabbit hole, you won’t be coming back any time soon: we literally looked back through every single caricature we could find and still couldn’t pick a favourite.
As if this artistic series wasn’t weird enough, Pete isn’t the only person painting and drawing utterly cursed cartoons at the minute either…
A TV channel playing Christmas films 24/7 is now back on air in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Do you think it’s too early for the ‘C word’? Never mind, you’ve already clicked on this article.
Sure, we may only be into our second full week of September, but given the fact the weather these past couple of days hasn’t exactly screamed summer, it already feels like the festive season is around the corner – but whether or not you think it’s too early to be talking about Christmas, it’ll soon be too tricky to escape from.
Especially not when the famous TV channel showing festive film favourites non-stop is now back on air in the UK.
Yes, you heard that right – Christmas films, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
If you’re ready to wave goodbye to summer, and in welcome autumn and winter with open arms, then there’s arguably no better way of getting into the festive spirit than with the long-awaited and highly-anticipated return of the TV channel that’s charmed audiences for over half a decade now.
GREAT! Christmas the UK’s biggest seasonal channel, and it’s now live on Sky, Freesat, Freeview and Virgin Media.
You can expect almost four months of back-to-back seasonal movies.
The 24-hour feel-good and free-to-air channel will be bursting with non-stop Christmas spirit, and will be showing a heartwarming lineup of festive films – including some absolute fan-favourite classics that make it to screens every year without fail, alongside some cheesy Hallmark classics, new channel premieres, and so much more.
Viewers will find GREAT! Christmas on Freeview channel 51, Sky 319, Sky (Glass/Stream) 317, Virgin channel 424, and Freely channel 47.
The channel will run until early January.
Featured Image – Freestocks (via Unsplash)
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Erling Haaland has named his four favourite films… and fans have a lot to say on it
Emily Sergeant
Erling Haaland has answered the all-important question.
The question heard around the world, the question on everyone’s lips, a question that has absolutely nothing to do with football whatsoever… that’s right, he’s answered Letterboxd’s famous question of ‘what are your four favourite films?’.
If you’re unaware of what Letterboxd is, it describes itself as being an ‘online diary platform and app for film lovers’ and it gives users the chance to display their four favourite films at the top of their profile for all to see (and judge).
An extension of this has then been Letterboxd asking celebrities in press junket interviews and on red carpets what their ‘four faves’ are – and it’s gone on to become something of a phenomenon in the film world.
Everyone from massive A-list movie stars, to indie darlings and up-and-coming names have answered this question before, and now (it appears) to be Erling Haaland’s turn.
He’s not the first footballer to be tasked with question though, as the entire Spurs team was ambushed with it by former player – and famously massive cinephile – Alfie Whiteman last year, but it’s fair to say that after the summer he’s had with Norway at the World Cup, achieving international fame in the process, that Haaland is one of the most high-profile to answer it in a long while.
So, what’s on Erling’s list then?
Well, to self-confessed ‘film bros’ out there, you’re not going to find any deep cuts in this selection unfortunately, and you’re probably not going to get any recommendations for movies you haven’t seen before either, but come on, he is only a footballer after all.
Erling Haaland has named his four favourite films… and fans have a lot to say on it / Credit: Letterboxd
First up for the Manchester City striker is a pretty common pick by straight white men, it’s The Wolf of Wall Street, and he doesn’t give much of a reason for it, other than just suggesting: “I think you understand why”.
He then follows that up with Ridley Scott’s classic Gladiator, calling it ‘amazing’, before naming 2004’s epic Troy, and then rounding it out with a Christmas favourite for many, Home Alone, adding that he ‘watched it a lot as a kid, and then again now’.
As for fan reaction to Haaland’s four favourites, let’s just say it’s been mixed.
Among the 1,000+ comments on the Instagram video, you’ll find just as many people called him ‘king’ and saying he has ‘goated’ taste, as you will comments like this: “He has the most male gazed top four in history of Letterboxd.”
Danny Jones -
15th February 2023 
