Football Art Prize

Meet the 2026 Shortlist

Above: K M Assad, Playing at Algae River, photograph

The Football Art Prize has announced its 2025/26 shortlist, selecting over 75 works from around 900 entries submitted by artists across the UK and internationally.

Selected works will tour to two major UK venues: the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield from June 2026, and the National Football Museum, Manchester, from November 2026 to February 2027.

The 75+ shortlisted works span painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, film and mixed media, and come from artists as far afield as Bangladesh, Jamaica, Greenland, Colombia, India and the Netherlands. Together they make a case for football as one of the richest subjects in contemporary art, carrying questions of identity, class, memory, gender, disability and belonging.

The Tour

Selected works will tour to two major UK venues: the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield from 15 June 2026, and the National Football Museum, Manchester, from November 2026 to February 2027.

"People often talk about artistry on the pitch… well there's plenty of it off the pitch too, inspired by the beautiful game. One of the joys of football matches is the collective, physical experience, so here's hoping many come and visit the exhibition of selected artworks."

- Tim Marlow, Football Art Prize Judge and Head of the Design Museum

The show is not one to miss.

Above: Richard Clements, Echoes of the Game, oil

Meet the Selectors

  • Tim Marlow

    Tim Marlow OBE (b. 1962) is a British art historian, curator, and broadcaster. He is currently the Chief Executive and Director of the Design Museum in London, a role he took up in 2019. Previously, he served as Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts, where he played a key role in shaping its exhibitions and programming. Marlow has presented numerous radio and television documentaries on art and culture, making art more accessible to broad audiences. Throughout his career, he has written extensively and lectured internationally, recognized for his ability to bridge scholarly insight with public engagement.

  • Jessica Naz

    Jessica Naz is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team.

  • Emmely Elgersma

    Emmely Elgersma is a London-based artist and designer whose work explores material transformation and the relationship between art, sport and community. She has exhibited at Christie’s, Saatchi Gallery, Selfridges and the London Design Festival. Recent projects include sculptural football shirts and immersive installations for music and cultural festivals.

  • Harland Miller

    Harland Miller (b. 1964, Yorkshire) is a British artist and writer known for his bold, text-based paintings that blend language, humour and abstraction. Drawing on literature, pop culture and personal experience, his work explores how words shape emotion and meaning. He has exhibited internationally with major solo shows at White Cube, York Art Gallery and Blain|Southern.

  • Sarah Hodgkinson

    Sarah has over 25 years experience of working in the cultural sector, specifically in the North West. As Senior Curator she has responsibility for the exhibition programme at Touchstones Rochdale and leads the exhibition and collections team who care for a diverse collection of over 100,000 objects and 1700 artworks.

  • Alison Morton

    Alison Morton is Head of Exhibitions at Sheffield Museums Trust with over 30 years of experience in the museum sector, specialising in visual art and exhibitions. Alison leads the Exhibitions curatorial and technical teams and is responsible for the programming and delivery of exhibitions and displays across the Trusts six sites. 

  • Marek Romaniszyn

    Marek Romaniszyn is a curator at the National Football Museum. His work focuses on co-creation, access, and representation, shaping exhibitions that celebrate diverse voices and foster meaningful connections between museums, communities, and cultures.

SHORTLISTED ARTISTS

Alina Akbar, Roger Allen, Latifah Alsaid, Greg Archer, K M Asad, Peter Bell, Karl Bielik, Keith Bird, Andy Black, Mark Bonello, Dan Booth, Andy Brown, Mark Carolan, Brian Casey, Alex Chilvers, Cody Choi, Richard Clements, Amy Cole, Gerry Davies, Michael Dipré, Lena Drukker, Oliver Eglin, Archie Franks, Neville Gabie, Mark Geddis, Zack Gorman, Diane Griffiths, Subhashis Halder, Patrick Higgins, Felix Higham, Stephen Hill, Ziaul Huque, Kyle Jagger, Alan Johnson, Amy Lee-Julian, Anne Lydiat, Steven MacIver, Jil Mandeng, Roman Manfredi, Danny Markey, Monika Mayer, Howard Milton, Shaun Morris, Charlotte C Mortensson, Kanmi Olukanni, Esteban Peña Parga, Lekan Rabiu, Nacho Rivera, Ian Robinson, Conor Rogers, Jakob Seckinger, Tonique Sewell, Michael Sheldon, Johann Sigurdsson, Viliam Slaminka, Paul Smith, Robin Thistlethwaite, Sean Williams, Alistair Woods, David Youds, Jacqui McAssey &  Zoë Hitchen


PRIZES

First Prize £5,000 

Second Prize £2,000

THE TOUR

The Football Art Prize will open at the Millenium Gallery and online and will then tour to the National Football Museum (Manchester).