SOCCER fan Anthony Bebro is painting the town red - in winning style.

For the Salford lad's images of his Manchester United idols could promote him to the artistic Premier league.

His large canvasses are now worth thousands of pounds and while he'll never be in the same wage bracket as David Beckham and Roy Keane, they could provide a comfortable living.

Anthony, 33, discovered his gift with crayons as a youngster at North Allerton Road Primary School and continued to progress at Lower Kersal High.

He left school with just one O-level - in art - and set about trying to make painting his career.

At the age of 22 he met his girlfriend, Linda Allardyce, in Blackpool and the couple moved up to her home in Scotland.

Fame

There, his efforts painting Celtic players, including international star striker Henrik Larsson, earned him some fame.

He said today: ''They got some attention and I even managed to sell a few to people in America.''

Now briefly back in Manchester, when he's not creating Ryan Giggs or Bobby Charlton with acrylics and canvas he spends time in the city centre drawing on the pavement with chalk. ''I just love painting and drawing and want to do it all the time,'' he said.

''When I went to the Louvre in Paris everyone else was most interested in the Mona Lisa but it was the very big masterpieces by artists like Botticelli which captivated me.

''I'm a big United fan so it made sense for me to draw football but I'm intending to look at other sports.

''Golf would lend itself to my photo-realism style and the crowds could provide vibrant colours.''

He added: ''The players don't move around too quickly either.''

Currently, he is looking to sell a montage of the modern team which took more than six months to complete.

He estimates the value at over £3,000, but says he is going to donate a percentage of whatever he earns from it to the Francis House Hospice, in Cheadle, where his uncle Frank died earlier this year.

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