Lowry's interest in sport is reflected in a series of football paintings, mostly depicting Burnden Park in Bolton, the home of Bolton Wanderers Football Club. A keen supporter of the Club, the artist was a frequent visitor to the ground in his youth.

Lowry's football scenes are 'composite', a mix of the actual and the mythical. Each painting is a 'vision' of all football matches: the crowd moves with one object in view, diagonally converging on a single point