Lewes posters cooking up a storm: Nigella's club uses iconic images from Banksy, the Sex Pistols and 1966 World Cup Final in posters to publicise matches



C ult hit with supporters of Lewes FC fans as attendances rise

Street art of snogging coppers used to promote game against Met Police

Celebrity club shareholders include Nigella Lawson and Steve Coogan



'This is a small town but so bonkers and proactive', says director

Nicknamed The Rooks, Isthmian League side play at The Dripping Pan







Be mine: Banksy image of two policemen kissing used to promote the Valentine's weekend fixture against the Met Police

Think non-league football is the preserve of nerdy, anorak-wearing obsessives? Think again... at least in East Sussex.

Lewes, who are in a battle to beat the drop in the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division - the seventh tier of the English football, are using eye-catching posters with iconic images to promote games.

The posters, which are quite frankly brilliant, use imagery inspired by films like the Magnificent Seven, album covers from the Sex Pistols and Pink Flloyd, street art from Banksy... and even Soviet wartime propaganda ... proving football really is an art form.

The posters, put up throughout the East Sussex town on matchdays, have become a cult hit with supporters.

Attendances at the Ryman Premier League club's Dripping Pan ground used to be an average 433, but it has risen to about 600 since the club officials came up with the idea.

A smattering of celebrity fans has also helped raise the club's profile.

Dave Lamb, the voiceover star of hit TV show Come Dine With Me, is the club's former chairman and a regular on terraces.



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Big match: The Sex Pistols album publicising the home game with Kingstonian

Celebrity shareholders: Scrummy TV chef Nigella Lawson (left) and Steve Coogan as Pauline Calf (right)



Founding member: Patrick Marber (right) with Coogan (left) and Geraldine Somerville

Come dine with him: Dave Lamb

Comedian Patrick Marber (of Alan Partridge and The Day Today fame) is one of the founder members of the Rooks’ community ownership board – as such, the club count the likes of Charles Saatchi, Lawson and Coogan as shareholders.



Club director Charlie Dobres told the Independent: 'This is a small town of 16,000 people but is so bonkers and pro-active it's just the kind of place to do this sort of thing.'

Dobres was one of six founders of the Rook 125 group which saved the club from going bust three years ago and turned it into a Barcelona-style club owned by fans.

Nicknamed 'The Rooks', Lewes have played at The Dripping Pan – a 3,000-capacity (though only 600 seater) former cricket ground – since their inception in 1885 and, since 2010, have been a member-owned football club.

Mr Dobres added: 'We wanted to return the club to its community roots. We wanted the posters to be an expression of that.

'They evolved to a theme that fits us, the town and the club which is deliberately irreverent and plugged into the multicultural media.'

Dark side: The poster for the Margate match was inspired by Pink Flloyd's iconic Dark Side Of The Moon album cover

Iconic: The Magnificent Seven poster promoting the club's game against Carshalton



Game on: The posters for the Lewes home games against Canvey Island and East Thurrock

Cult following: The poster advertising a real ale festival at Lewes FC

How they stand: Ryman Premier League bottom six The English football leagues pyramid - Lewes are in the seventh tier (Source: Wikipedia)

The club, battling against the threat of relegation, has played at the Dripping Pan since 1885 and has a capacity of 3000.

Each poster, produced by the Brighton design firm East Web, draws on a number of cultural references , including the Sex Pistols.

Against the Met Police on Valentine's Day last month, the match poster showed the Banksy image of two policemen kissing.

For the game against Canvey Island on Mother's Day this Sunday, the club have used a image from World War Two of Russia urging its people to be proud of the motherland.

VIDEO: Lewes FC Support & Save Challenge - with Dave Lamb...





LEWES POSTERS GALLERY...

Pre-season v Harrow v Eastliegh v Tooting & Mitcham

v Brighton v Horsham v Borehamwood v Hastings

v Canvey Island v Lowestoft v Hendon v Dorchester Town