Our customer wanted to present the football shirts he had collected over the 30 years working with world-class footballers. Rather than frame the shirts or keep them in boxes in the loft, his idea was to upholster a chair using the gifted and signed shirts. We now refer to this bespoke upholstered chair as the Football Shirt Chair.

We provided a traditional Parker Knoll-style chair, changed the legs, restored the internals and followed his exact instructions as to where each shirt should show. The chair was to tell a story of his professional life.

It will sit in Grant’s office at his new home in the Scottish highlands next to the picture window that looks onto a mountain. It will be a great talking point and a reflection piece of art for the proud owner.

Grant kindly outlined the story behind the Football Shirt Chair below:

I can’t tell you how delighted I am with the work you were able to do with the ‘football chair’ we designed. It will have a special place in our new home on the Isle of Arran when we move in the summer.
 
I have spent the last 32 years working in elite professional football & worked for The Football Association, Glasgow Rangers FC, Middlesbrough FC & Manchester City FC. I am a physiotherapist by profession & have worked for a number of years as a performance lead in professional football. I have collected many shirts from players, who are just ordinary people but special performers, who I have worked with over this time & I wanted to create a piece of ‘artwork’ that depicted my journey & the impact in a positive way they have had on me.
I now deliver leadership talks on my journey globally & I will reference the chair from what I learned on my journey & the lessons I learned from working with some great people. It also allows me time to look at it & reflect on key decisions moving forward inspired by the people I have worked with.
 
Grant Downie OBE
Consultant in medical & performance solutions
www.grantdownie.co.uk