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Graffiti artist Banksy as never seen before - painting a mural on a wall in Mexico while on tour with his local football club.

Banksy turned out as goalkeeper for a soccer club called the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls who played a team of Zapatista freedom fighters.

The snapshot is the first ever confirmed picture of the publicity-shy guerilla artist.

It was taken in 2001 when Banksy was aged 27.

The image - pixelated to protect Banksy’s identity - has been used in a book charting the history of the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls club which is based in the artist’s home city Bristol.

Club secretary Will Simpson said: “He came out with us on our second tour of Mexico - he did a few murals and played in goal for a bit.

“He wasn’t a bad goalie actually.

“Shortly after, he might have moved to London.

(Image: Tangent Books / SWNS.com)

“He’s a nice bloke - we still see him every now and again when he pops into The Plough when he’s back in Bristol.

“The Cowboys is unique in that we don’t define ourselves as a socialist team or anarchist team, we are a sports team that has a political dimension.

“We’re anti-racist, anti-sexist, we’re against homophobia. We try to foster an inclusive atmosphere.

“Most football teams are 15 to 20 blokes but Cowboys and Cowgirls is a massive community.

“We have 200 people on the mailing list and about 150 people playing sports.

“We invite people of all backgrounds and abilities - you don’t have to play a sport to be part of Cowboys.

“Even if they cheer them from the touchline, we’ve lots and lots of non-playing cowboys and cowgirls.”

Since finding fame Banksy has donated artwork and designed a tee-shirt to help raise more than £100,000 for the community sports club - founded in 1992 in Easton, Bristol close to where he grew up.

It has been claimed that Banksy’s real name is Robin Gunningham, a middle-class former public schoolboy from Bristol.