Lowry's 'hidden' football painting could set £4.5m record at auction... but what would he make of his beloved Manchester City today?

A painting by 'matchstick' artist L.S. Lowry which has not been seen in public for two decades could set a new world record for his works by fetching up to £4.5 million at auction.

The Football Match was painted in 1949 and is one of the most eye-catching depictions of the sport by the Manchester City-supporting painter, famed for his depictions of Salford life.

The artwork is in the hands of a private collector and is estimated to go for between £3.5 million and £4.5 million when it is sold by Christie's in May.

Manchester millions: The Football Match is expected to fetch up to £4.5m at auction

Football fan: Lowry was a Manchester City supporter

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: MAN CITY IN 1949

Lowry's love of football seemed inextricably tied to his love of working class life; he felt they went together.

But his beloved Manchester City are anything but common these days and the artist would hardly recognise his old team now.

Among the richest clubs in the world, the side that was held by lowly Notts County in the FA Cup last weekend cost more than £200million.

They currently hold the British transfer record having bought Brazilian Robinho for £32.4million and their striker Carlos Tevez is reputed to be the best paid player in England on more than £250,000 per week.

It was a little different in 1949, the year that Lowry painted The Football Match.

At that time Man City counted German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, pictured above, among their number.

The former Luftwaffe pilot and prisoner of war has his own place in football legend having broken his neck in the 1956 FA Cup Final but played on to collect a winner's medal.

And he did it for barely more than a tenner.

A year after that cup triumph, Jimmy Hill successfully campaigned for players maximum wage to be raised from £20.

Tevez may be renowned as something of a lionheart on the field by today's standards, but he also wears a snood to keep out the cold.

Hundreds of his signature stick figures can be seen gathered at a match on a washed-out looking pitch between terraced houses and factories with billowing chimneys.

Christie's has described the painting as 'a modern masterpiece'.

Lowry, who died in 1976 at the age of 88, was known for his simple depictions of working class life.

He painted largely in his spare time while working for the Pall Mall Property Company in Manchester, but still achieved much recognition during his life.

He was the royal artist at the Queen's coronation in 1953 - the year after he retired - and nine years later became a Royal Academician. In 1967, his work featured on a stamp.

The money involved in art was a little different then though.

His 1947 work A River Bank was bought by Bury Council for £150 in 1951 - he would likely never have imagined that it would be controversially sold by the borough in 2006 for £1.25 million, at a Christie's auction.

The sale of The Football Match could outstrip the previous highest price for a Lowry, also sold by Christie's, when Good Friday, Daisy Nook fetched £3.8 million in 2007.

The auction house has sold 125 of his works since June 2006, together totalling £29.4 million.

The highest price for a Lowry football painting was £1.9 million when Going To The Match was sold in in 1999. Like the work to be sold on May 26, the canvas was 28 x 36 inches.

Philip Harley, head of 20th century British & Irish art at Christie's London, said: 'The Football Match by L.S. Lowry is the ultimate work for passionate connoisseurs of Lowry's work and of football.'

Rachel Hidderley, Christie's international specialist and director of 20th century British art, added: 'The large-format, panoramic, bird's-eye composite view of Lowry's own landscape perfectly captures the spirit and drama of a town
gripped by the excitement of the Saturday football match.

'The empty streets peopled only with occasional women, prams and shoppers contrast the busy crowd watching the football match.

'The artist warmly captures a Northern town relaxing during a weekend, following a busy working week, which he depicted so often in his revered industrial scenes.'

It will be sold during Christie's sale of 20th Century British Art.

The painting toured in London, the US and Paris shortly after it was completed before entering a collection in 1950.

Lowry was famously celebrated in the chart-topping hit Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs by Brian And Michael in 1978.