PROMOTING a football game can be simple if you're a big name like Manchester United or Liverpool.

It is also arguably easier for Brighton and Hove Albion with fantastic stadium and successful team.

So spare a thought then for the likes of Lewes Football Club who play in the Ryman South at the Dripping Pan before a few hundred people each week.

When Lewes became community-owned in 2010, belt-tightening meant that the club needed to design its posters in-house.

Charlie Dobres - director and one of the founders of the community club - took on the task, inspired by an album cover pastiche produced by previous designers, Proworx.

The posters have been used to promote every men’s first team game for the past four seasons, and now they have gone on show at a public exhibition showcasing the best and most popular of the designs.

’The Art of The Matchday Poster’ is being staged at the Pelham House Hotel in Lewes until November 15.

Using classic imagery, and popular culture from film, television and music, the posters are an affectionate homage to the culture of the day.

Mr Dobres said: "I was trying to think of ways to get across our message that football isn’t just for football fans. It is part of the social and cultural fabric of our country.

"The original heart of football, despite having shrivelled in the Premier League, is still alive and well in local, non-league football. A pie, a pint, a laugh, a match.

"When you have no formal training in design, it forces you to make an advantage of your limitations. I raided my memory for all the iconic, though occasionally obscure, images I could think of.

"Not just album covers, but films and books too. Invariably, I’m trying to find stuff that will make people smile.

"Sometimes, you might have to ask a friend what on earth that week’s poster is about, but I like that too. I also sometimes enlist a friend to help."

Framed versions of the posters are displayed in the reception, bar and atrium of the hotel, and the posters are available to purchase at the hotel’s reception, as well as at Lewes Football Club and online.

The exhibition is free and has full disabled access. All the work is for sale, framed or unframed.

For more information log onto www.lewesfc.com twitter: @Lewes_cfc