'Panini Cheapskates' draw West Brom heroes to raise money for charity

Alex and Sian Pratchett are 'Panini Cheapskates', an Oxford couple who draw their own homemade versions of the famous stickers.

They started in 2014 for the World Cup because they felt collecting the real stickers was too expensive, and since then, their unique artwork has exploded in popularity.

Now, they’ve drawn 36 Albion legends of past and present to raise money for club charity The Albion Foundation.

“We’re artistically challenged, it’s fair to say,” smiled Alex. “Since 2014 we’ve been drawing footballers and raised about £12,000 for good causes

“The Albion Foundation asked if we wanted to help them raise some money so here we are.

“Why are we helping? It seems like a nice thing to get involved with, make some money for good cause and any excuse to draw Paul Scharner’s hair, Jonathan Greening’s beard or Jonas Olsson in general is not to be turned down.”

Fans can pick up an A3 poster of their fantastic artwork for just £11 online, but as Alex explained, it’s important to judge the quality of the drawings, or lack of it, just right.

“If we were any good we would be about eight per cent as popular as we are,” he admitted. “The entire appeal lies in its enthusiastic amateurness.

“There’s a sort of sweet spot we’re trying to hit where you can recognise who it’s meant to be but it’s still not a good drawing. If you can hit that, happy days.

“I don’t know if we’re getting better at hitting that but drawing these West Brom lads is good fun.”

As well as current players like Jake Livermore, James Morrison, Jay Rodriguez and Chris Brunt, the pair have also drawn legends from the 70s like Cyrille Regis, Tony Brown, Derek Statham and Brendon Batson.

The likes of Bob Taylor, Kevin Donovan, Andy Hunt and Richard Sneekes ensure there is plenty in there for all generations.

“My favourite one to draw was from the late 70s, the golden age of the moustache,” said Alex. “There’s a few excellent haircuts in there.

“Finding Bryan Robson with a big bowl perm and a moustache was an unexpected treat.”

The pair replicated their World Cup feat of 2014 for Euro 2016 and have since released posters of 90s legends, players from Russia 2018, and icons of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Spurs.

“It’s very weird to think any stranger would want any of this artwork ruining their wall at home but amazingly enough people do,” said Alex.

“The idea is totally baffling to both of us but makes us very happy as well. If we can raise some money for good causes at the same time then brilliant.”

All profits made from the sale of the Albion poster will go directly to The Albion Foundation.

You can buy one here and you can follow Alex and Sian’s exploits on Twitter via @CheapPanini