A campaign has been launched to 'save' a famous LS Lowry painting and keep it in Manchester.

Lowry’s famous ‘Going to the Match’ is due to go on sale in an auction at Christie’s London on Wednesday 19 October.

The painting is owned by the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Players Foundation and is expected to sell for up to £8m.

Going to the Match was painted in 1953 and depicts the former Bolton Wanderers ground, Burnden Park, on match day.

The painting was once owned by Tommy Steele.

But Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett has called for a temporary export ban and has launched a campaign to ‘save’ the painting.

He said: “We need to do all we can to save this critically and important LS Lowry painting for people to access free here in Salford.

“If this work is bought by an international collector, I would urge the UK Government to place a temporary export ban on this important piece of art to prevent it leaving the country.

“This will allow time for the campaign to gather momentum and help to raise funds to buy it.”

Last week the City Mayor also appealed to wealthy football clubs, players and individuals to help buy the painting.

Best known for his matchstick men and women and one of Britain’s most-celebrated painters, Lowry lived in Mottram for almost 30 years until his death in 1976.

A life-sized statue of the artist seated on a bench, sketching is located in the village.

A spokesperson for The Lowry gallery said: “LS Lowry’s painting Going to the Match is a hugely important and much-loved work of art that has been on almost permanent public display at The Lowry since we opened in 2000.

“It was one of the first paintings hung on our walls and has become a favourite with visitors ever since. We are proud to have been custodians of Going to the Match and feel a deep connection to the work.

“It’s significance to us as an organisation cannot be undervalued and is matched by the affection the painting is held in by the public, who visit us in their thousands every year to view it.

“It was typical of the artist that his focus was not on the match itself, or of the football superstars of the day, but on the ordinary men, women and children who were streaming into the ground. Greater Manchester is a proud footballing region, and the painting resonates as much now as it did when it was painted in 1953.

“We have been very grateful to the Professional Footballers’ Association for the generosity of their loan over the last 22 years and looking ahead we are committed to the work remaining on public view, either in our galleries or elsewhere, and are working closely with Christie’s in the run-up to the auction, with this objective in mind.”

Listed as ‘Lot 9’ the painting has an estimated price of between £5m and £8m. The Lot is one of several other Lowry paintings also up for auction at the same event.

‘On The Sands’ and ‘Unemployed’ are privately owned. They are estimated to sell for £6-£8m and more than £1m respectively.