Scrolling through Twitter, it’s hard not to stop and laugh when you come across Pete Sibley’s work – surreal, often bizarre, but always entertaining cartoons of some of football’s most recognisable faces. These mashups of footballers and managers, depicted with a large twist of humour and exaggeration, have earned Pete a growing fanbase on X, making him one of the most beloved football caricaturists online today.
Whilst caricatures of footballers are nothing new, Pete Sibley’s work stands out. His artistic style is distinct, blending simplicity with surrealism to create something that looks both familiar and hilariously uncanny. Known for mashing up different players or managers’ likenesses, Pete’s cartoons exaggerate features to the point where you’ll never see the real-life versions in the same way again…
One of his most popular cartoons, a mashup of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Everton manager Sean Dyche, has garnered over two million views, while another, of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, boasts over 1.2 million. A personal favourite of ours, Timmy Bullard, has also hit the million view mark. Other viral sketches each earn upwards of 10,000 likes.
Pete’s journey as an artist has been fueled by his passion for both football and drawing. A lifelong Manchester United fan, he’s been creating football-inspired sketches for as long as he can remember, rarely straying outside the sport for inspiration.
“I’m a Manchester United fan. Can’t really remember how and why anymore… Part of the reason must have been because I got given the 1994-96 Manchester United kit (from the old megastore).
“The first United game I remember was City versus United, 2-3 in 96, for some reason it has always stuck in my mind that United played with black shorts that day.
“So, I have been a fan since probably 1995. Yep, can remember something about losing out on the the title to Blackburn. Man Utd v Luděk Mikloško…” (Mikloško’s Man of the Match performance against United on the last day of the 1994-95 season helped West Ham earn a 1–1 draw paving way for Blackburn Rovers to win the league).”
Though Pete’s cartoons are often humorous, he’s careful not to cross the line into mean-spiritedness. He aims to strike a balance where the players can see the fun in his work without feeling offended. “I want the portrayed player to find it funny,” he says, recalling how former footballer Peter Reid once laughed at a mashup of himself with Bobby Decordova-Reid.
“I have done football drawings probably as long as I can remember. Oddly enough you can count on one hand the amount of non-football drawings I have made. Don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing?
“I don’t really know how I started mashing up different footballers and characters. But I know that if I don’t feel particularly inspired to draw, it is a struggle. But when inspiration hits, it’s really fun to do and that’s the main thing. It has to be fun, otherwise the drawing itself lacks energy and the ooompf! It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to have that little something. Occasionally it has…
“That’s why I am very bad at taking request. I get a lot of them and I’m very grateful for each and every one, but I’m very off the cuff when I’m drawing, so if I sit down to do a specific piece, it might end up something totally different.”
It’s clear that part of the charm of Pete’s work lies in its spontaneity. His off-the-cuff approach gives his work the energy and unpredictability followers have come to love.
Pete’s reach extends beyond social media, on his website, footballsketches.com, he offers prints, mugs, and t-shirts of his unique art on . Handling everything himself, it makes each piece a labor of love. For fans, buying a product isn’t just a way to own a quirky slice of football art but also a way to support an independent artist with a truly unique vision. We love it – check out full gallery of our favourites below, and make sure you follow Pete on X.
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