Furniture company produces stunning custom-made chair from Hibs shirts

Branding someone an “armchair football fan” is often used as a derogatory term but one company is attempting to lend new meaning to the phrase.

Detail from the custom-made Hibs chair

Unique Sports Chairs, based in South Wales and run by former Cardiff Blues scrum-half Ross Pritchard, makes bespoke furniture for supporters using past and present shirts.

Many of the firm’s earlier efforts were unsurprisingly rugby-focused but the company now regularly creates unique pieces for football fans with recent orders including Sunderland, Everton, and Aston Villa.

But it’s the company’s latest creation, specially made for a trustee of the Hanlon Stevenson Foundation, that has fans’ tongues wagging on social media.

The chair features a cushion made from the 2020/21 away kit

The custom-made chair features numerous Easter Road shirts from the last few years including last season's purple and green away shirt and this term’s home and away jerseys complete with NHS tribute.

It also features home and away kits from the Crabbie's era as well as the home and away Marathonbet-sponsored shirts from the 2017/18 season, and the limited edition yellow third shirt worn during the current campaign.

The Evening News understands a percentage of the firm’s future sales will be donated to the Foundation.

Scotland fullback Stuart Hogg, darts player Gerwyn Price, former Wales wing Shane Williams, Meath GAA player Mickey Burke, and ex-Gloucester flanker Andy Hazell are among the sportsmen to have ordered custom-made chairs from Pritchard’s firm.

With shirt collecting and retro kits enjoying something of a renaissance in recent months, especially during lockdown, don't bet against seeing a few more of these chairs popping up on social media in the near future.

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