Leeds United favourite Raphinha responds to Beeston gesture with Elland Road backdrop

Leeds United favourites Raphinha and Mateusz Klich have both shown their approval for new artwork paying tribute to their time at Elland Road.

The 17th mural commissioned by Leeds United Supporters Trust was unveiled this week. The comic-strip style mural, created by Leeds-based artist Kieran Bradshaw, has been painted on the side of a house on Wesley Croft, Beeston, on a major matchday walking route for fans. Leeds fan Danny Moran, who owns the house, plans to lift his fence panels so that supporters can view the mural on their way to Elland Road.

The mural features club legends Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner and David Batty alongside more recent Whites heroes Raphinha, Klich, Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi. It was sponsored by Leeds United Colorado and Leeds United Nashville, who are part of Leeds United Americas supporters network. Raphinha has posted an image of the mural on his Instagram with the caption 'lovely' while Klich was quick to post it on his Twitter account.

Bradshaw battled with the elements to create his latest piece of art but wanted to involve the house owner and the mural sponsors in the vision for the project. "It's taken a good few weeks to get this completed due to the inconsistent British weather, but I'm absolutely delighted that the vision of the original design has been brought to life and will now be part of the fan journey on match days with the ground as the backdrop," he said. "I wanted to do something a little different and did my own take on a comic style mural incorporating both the owners and the sponsors ideas, I really hope everyone loves it."

Leeds United mural highlights Elland Road heroes

Home owner Moran is delighted with the finished mural. "As a Leeds fan, I'm literally over the moon that this mural is on the side of my home so I can see it every day," he said. "Kieran has done an amazing job bringing this to life and I'm really looking forward to seeing lots of Leeds fans stopping to admire it for the first game, I will be lifting the fencing panels especially for it."

Sponsorship from the Nashville and Colorado supporters groups was co-ordinated by Mark Blaze and Bo Barrington, who added: "We are so over the moon that our groups finally have a little piece of us in Leeds and it's so close to the ground it really helps us to feel closer to the club, and also features some of our favourite and iconic players."

A Leeds United Supporters Trust spokesperson said they hope that this will just be the latest in a growing collection of Whites-related art across the city and its surrounds. "These murals wouldn’t be possible without the support of sponsors and what makes it even more special is that we have these two groups millions of miles away wanting to be involved to be a bigger part of the city and the club. A massive thanks to Leeds United Nashville and Colorado for their amazing support and of course to Kieran for another stunning design. This is now our 17th commissioned mural across the city and we hope to continue reaching as many communities as possible with this LUFC art."