Gliding in late into the box, Graphic Designer, Chris Cheeseman, connected perfectly with the football as it was rolled across from the right and slotted it home to put the blue team up by two goals.
On the 20th of October, myself, and two of my colleagues were delighted to be offered the chance to play on the pitch at Wembley as part of an annual event that The Football Association puts on for its partners.
Many of our staff work closely with The FA on various projects across the year, so it must have been a difficult choice. However my colleagues Chris and Tom each went on to back up their selection with goals.
As our Head of Graphic Design, Chris is the lead medal designer on all projects we complete for The FA. He designed the 2022 Emirates FA Cup Final Medals, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the competition.
Tom, our Distribution Manager personally quality checks and hand delivers all of the many trophies, awards and medals that we restore and make as part of our partnership and long standing relationship as official suppliers to the beating heart of English football. Tom is also Thomas Lyte’s best football talent and it clearly showed on the pitch that day.
I myself, work on everything marketing, and have had the absolute pleasure to write and direct/produce much of the videography shot at our workshops. This year’s piece on Abide With Me was a particularly special one for Thomas Lyte and our partnership. But really, I was invited to take photos and write this journal article!
The attendees were split into four teams, each with kits of different colours. The Thomas Lyte trio were all handed the blue kit, with shirts, socks and shorts to match. Lining up alongside us in the blue team were the likes of Panini Cards, Marks and Spencers, Disney, Fanatics, EE among many others.
Chris Cheeseman, Head of Graphic Design for Thomas Lyte
Each team played two matches. We won the semi-final 2-1, coming back from a goal down. But we lost the “final” 3-2, after taking a 2-0 lead with goals from Chris and Tom. For the most part all three of us played on the wings, with Chris preferring the right-back position. I, myself am a triathlete first and foremost, which was a great help as my endurance just about made up for my terrible passing and defending, allowing me to close down the opposition and run after every ball.
Overall, the experience of changing in the Wembley Dressing rooms, and walking out onto the pitch was a special moment for all of us. And once the football was over, we were well fed in one of the FA’s boxes, just in time to find out that we didn’t get picked by Gareth Southgate for the England team’s World Cup Squad, announced that afternoon.
I’d like to take this final paragraph to thank our partners at The Football Association for this amazing opportunity. Also to voice our appreciation to Thomas Lyte for selecting us to represent the company on the day. It will rightly be someone else selected next year, and they’re going to love it!
Read about our press mentions and awards for the project
We have selected a number of case studies that demonstrate the broad range of our capabilities designing and making in precious metals.
