New artwork honours North East footballing legend
A NORTH-EAST footballing legend will be honoured, and vital funds raised for charity, with the launch of celebrated artist Lucy Pittaway’s latest painting.
Earlier this year award-winning artist Lucy, daughter of Middlesbrough FC legend Willie Maddren, announced a charity partnership with the MND Association which will see her raise funds for the organisation throughout 2025. Willie was a Boro legend, spending his entire professional career at the club, first as a player between 1968 and 1979, before going on to manage the club from 1984 to 1986.
This year marks the 25th anniversary since Lucy lost her father, the club’s legendary former player and manager, to motor neurone disease (MND). Throughout the year Lucy, her team from her Richmondshire headquarters and colleagues from across her galleries in Yorkshire, Cumbria and the North East, have all pledged to embark on a range of fundraising activities for the MND Association.
And to commemorate her Dad, and raise money for the association, Lucy has also launched Up the Boro, celebration of all things ‘Boro’, in her iconic, signature style. All proceeds from the sale of the original painting will be donated to the Association. Up the Boro will also be available as prints, canvasses and as a range of merchandise.
It joins Lucy’s other iconic creations including a homage to the felled Sycamore Gap tree.
After being diagnosed with MND in 1995, Willie became a campaigner for MND research, raising over £200,000 including £40,000 from his autobiography Extra Time. In 1996, a benefit match was arranged at the Riverside Stadium between Middlesbrough and Internazionale.
Lucy said: “This year was always going to be a tough one for my family, marking as it does the 25th anniversary of my father passing away. Milestone anniversaries are always a little more difficult for families who have lost their loved one. We just wanted to honour Dad’s memory all throughout the year by choosing the MND Association as our charity partner, and raising as much as we can for them in his name, and carrying on the great work he started and the example he set.
“This painting means so much on a personal level for me. As well as our own family, we’ve always very much felt part of the Boro family and I hope fans will love it as much as I do.
“So many people and their families are affected by MND and the work the MND Association do to fight the condition, through research, campaigning and helping people access care, is vitally important. I hope this painting, and the proceeds from the sale of the original, can play a small part in supporting their work and helping those affected”.
“It’s an honour to raise funds in memory of my Dad and support MND in its essential work supporting those impacted by the condition today, and in the future.”
Dominic McDonough, Relationship Fundraiser – North at the MND Association, said: “We are truly touched by Lucy’s incredible kindness in creating this amazing piece to support us. The piece will help us to raise awareness and funds and is an amazing link with her father who will always be a true legend for Middlesborough FC.
“We are grateful for Lucy and her team’s hard work to support us and the funds raised will make a huge difference, helping us to support those living with MND and their families in the community.”
The funds raised will be used by the MND Association to support people living with the disease and their families, ensuring that people living with the terminal illness have all of the help and support possible. It will also be used to fund research to try to find treatments and ultimately a cure to the disease.
The original and prints of Up the Boro went on sale on June 19th 2025 and more details can be found here: