London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 17, 2025

LS Lowry's Going To The Match sells for £7.8m at auction

LS Lowry's Going To The Match sells for £7.8m at auction

An LS Lowry painting described as an "iconic masterpiece" has been sold at auction for a record-breaking £7.8 million.

Going To The Match depicts a bustling throng of football fans gathered at the former home of Bolton Wanderers.

It had been loaned to The Lowry gallery in Salford by the Players Foundation.

But the foundation said the financial crisis meant it was forced to sell the 1953 work, raising fears it could be lost from public display.

The buyer has been confirmed as The Lowry arts centre, securing its future at the gallery.

It was among a series of paintings that went on sale at Christie's earlier, and sold for a hammer price of £6.6m with an additional buyer's premium of £1.2m.

The total sum is a new record price for a work by Lowry sold at auction.

The sale was a record for a Lowry


The sale was previously the subject of controversy, with the Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett insisting any new owner must keep it "free to access".

Lowry chief executive Julia Fawcett said the purchase was made possible "thanks to an incredibly generous gift from The Law Family Charitable Foundation".

She added: "We look forward to bringing it home to Salford, where it can continue to delight and attract visitors to the Andrew and Zoë Law galleries at The Lowry."

Andrew Law, who founded The Law Family Charitable Foundation with his wife Zoe, and has donated to the Lowry over the years, said the couple were "delighted" to have facilitated the purchase.

He added: "This LS Lowry painting belongs in Salford on public view, close to his birthplace, where he was educated and where he lived."

Lowry, who died in 1976, won first prize at an exhibition for Going To The Match


Mr Dennett, who wrote to prominent local figures and business leaders asking for help to buy the work, said: "I am delighted our campaign to save this critical and important painting has successfully resulted in The Lowry securing it tonight.

"We emphatically believed Going to the Match should remain on public view.

"For the city of Salford in perpetuity for generations to come, for residents and visitors to our great city."

Lowry, who died in 1976, spent much of his life in Salford and his work is strongly associated with the city.

Going To The Match is one of several football subjects painted by Lowry, who was always keenly interested in sport.

Many of the pictures have either direct or imaginary links with Burnden Park, the then-home of Bolton Wanderers, which was only a few miles from where the artist lived.

It won Lowry first prize in a 1953 exhibition, which was sponsored by The Football Association, and was last auctioned in 1999, when it was acquired by the charity for about £2m.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
×