Artist to sue Sunderland AFC over away kit design

An artist is planning to take legal action against Sunderland after the Premier League club printed what he claims is an image of one of his sculptures on its away kit without his permission.

Andrew Small, from Liverpool, was commissioned by Sunderland City Council in 2008 to create a sculpture, named 'C', to mark the end of the Sea to Sea cycle path.

Cyclists completing the Whitehaven to Sunderland route are greeted with a view of Roker Lighthouse through an aperture, carved into a six-and-a-half-tonne slab of black granite.

Sunderland has denied breaching copyright legislation in letters to Small's legal team, which is seeking a percentage of commercial sales of the kit or damages.

The 2025/26 away kit, manufactured by sportswear firm Hummel, features a repeating geometric pattern showing the lighthouse, viewed through a circular design resembling the sculpture's aperture.

At the time, the club said the shirt was inspired by its away kit from the 1989-91 season, when the club was still at its previous ground, Roker Park, which is just a short walk from the lighthouse.

"[The sculpture is] highly mirrored, polished granite, and it reflects the environments and the light," Small told the BBC.

"It looks like a bit of 3D generated artwork in the landscape sometimes, depending on how the light hits it.

"It's faceted, like a camera shutter. So carved into this six-and-a-half-tonne piece of ground are these curved shapes, which make it quite distinctive.

"It's not just a square with a hole in it, it's quite a specific form."

As part of the agreement with the council, Small retained copyright for the sculpture - with any reproduction of it for commercial reasons requiring a separate agreement.

Small, who has also produced works for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Halewood Station on Merseyside and Lancashire Police, said he was in a local pub when he was told the image of 'C' had been used on the kit.

"I bumped into my son's old headmaster, and as an avid Sunderland fan, he would travel up for games," he said.

"He came running over and said, 'Andy, Andy, have you seen Sunderland's away kit?'

"And I said no, and he just pulled his phone out and showed me, and instantly it was absolutely evident that it's my work."

Small said the significance did not sink in for a couple of days.

"I started thinking actually maybe they should have asked my permission before they did this," he said.

"There's a big conceptualising plaque next to the sculpture which explains all the things I was just talking about before and it's got my name quite big on it so it's pretty obvious it's attached to a specific artist."

Small is represented by barrister Francis McEntegart, who sent a cease and desist letter to the club with a demand for compensation.

Sunderland did not respond to a request for comment from the BBC, but the club has declined Mr Small's request stating there is "no copyright in ideas and concepts".

However Small said: "They've actually put the curves of the aperture on it and the proportions of it. It's not pure square, it's slightly rectangle.

"Anyone I've shown it to straight away just looks at me and laughs because it's ridiculous really."

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