A FORMER North-East footballing favourite will be showing off his artistic side next month.

Jody Craddock, 29, who spent six years at Sunderland Football Club and was part of the team that won promotion to the Premiership, has gained wide acclaim for his artistic abilities.

The defender, who was voted the fans' player of the year in 2002, was transferred to Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he still plays, after the Wearsiders were relegated in the 2002/2003 season.

Sunderland will be the location for the player's first North-East exhibition of his art. He has previously shown his work in Birmingham.

Off the field, the footballer has been a keen painter since his teenage years, and is looking at painting as a possible career after he retires from the sport.

He does most of his painting at home, where he has his own art studio, which he shares with his wife, Shelley.

His inspiration comes from a variety of sources. He collects a large range of pictures from magazines and books and also takes many photographs.

He took up art after the couple's baby son, Jake, died of cot death in August 2002. Some of the proceeds of the display will go to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths.

The player, who is a self-taught artist and uses a wide range of styles, is holding the exhibition as a thank you to the city for the support he and his wife received when their child died.

His former Sunderland team-mates have bought some of his paintings, which sell for upwards of £500, and he was commissioned by Wolverhampton Wanderers' chairman Sir Jack Hayward to paint a picture of the team's celebrations after they were promoted in the 2002/2003 season. It now hangs in the foyer at the club's Molineux ground.

The exhibition will be held at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, in Burdon Road, from Friday, November 12, to Sunday, December 5.

It is open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 5pm and on Sundays between 2pm and 5pm.