Iconic photograph of Morrissey's used to help boost Salford Lads and Girls Club fundraising

One is an iconic photograph which is part of British rock history. The other is a family snapshot of a brother and sister.

Now they will both be available to fans of The Smiths through Salford Lads and Girls Club. The 121-year old institution on Coronation Street, Ordsall, was saved from closure last month after £250,000 was raised in just six weeks. It is hoped the two images will further boost club funds.

On a cold winter day in 1985 the Manchester band chose the entrance to the club for a photoshoot. Then a young photographer, Stephen Wright shot five reels of film with 36 pictures on each, with a £150 Nikon camera. One - which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London - was used on the inner sleeve of The Queen Is Dead album and on the back of the Best Of album. It also put the club on the map globally.

READ MORE: Met Office issues two weather warnings for Greater Manchester

The picture of the siblings is Morrissey and his elder sister, Jacqueline, taken in the 1960s, when his family lived in Hulme before they later moved to Stretford. It will be embossed on a T-shirt to be sold by the club after the singer songwriter gave his approval.

Stephen Wright has given permission for his image to be reproduced in a special fundraising print available through the club. Morrissey, who donated £50,000 to the club's recent appeal, has allowed his family picture to be used on a new T-shirt which will go on sale at the club on Saturday December 7th.

Stephen said: "‘It was 39 years ago as a novice photographer that I shot The Smiths outside the Salford Lads club on a dark, damp day. Six months or so later one of the images was used on the gatefold of the ‘Queen is Dead’ album.

"It was about 20 years later that the amazing Leslie Holmes set up The Smiths room at the club and I finally went inside the Club. I was impressed at the facilities, the rich history of the Club and the dedication of the volunteers. Leslie certainly put the Club on the map and made it well known worldwide. It would be truly tragic if an institution so valuable to the community was to shut and it’s future needs guaranteeing’

A special edition Fundraising art print of The Smiths outside the Salford Lads Club signed by Stephen Wright is on sale at the club and through its website for a limited time. On a weekend near the anniversary, Stephen will be doing a charity shoot at the Salford Lads Club in aid of a £1m Legacy Fund it is hoping to set up.

The T-shirt will be on sale at the club this Saturday (December 7th) when it has an Open Day from 11am to 2pm, and again on Wednesday December 11th and Saturday December 14th.

Leslie Holmes, project manager at the club said: "To get a £50,000 donation from Morrissey was utterly amazing. His fans come here regularly and we know they communicated with him saying the club was in need.

"He has helped us before, (in 2008) giving us £20,000 to repair the concert hall roof. Last week I got an email from Morrissey's merchandise company and they said 'Morrissey has approved this T-shirt, what do you think'. As soon as I saw it, I thought wow that is extraordinary. They added an explanation saying it was Morrissey and his sister.

"It is fantastic. It conjures up all the cultural links with this place and he is using our mission statement dating from 1903 - 'To Brighten Young Lives and Make Good Citizens' at the bottom of the shirt. The backdrop of the shirt is a recent picture of the club entrance with the image of Morrissey and his sister superimposed in front of it.

"There is the Coronation Street sign in it and the fact it is Salford rekindles the link to the playwright Shelagh Delaney, who wrote A Taste of Honey, and whom Morrissey greatly admired."

The club has been given 250 of the T-shirts which are available in all sizes from from small to extra large.

He added: "When Stephen Wright gave us permission for his image of The Smiths outside the club to be used on a T-Shirt we sold £78,000 worth over a year, making about £60,000 in profit. As well as the Fundraising print of his we are selling he has sent us eight colour prints from the same shoot with The Smiths. They are really great and at some point they will go up for auction. They are pictures from the same day, but with little changes, like them all stood in the doorway. We get visitors from all over the world coming here in phenomenal numbers to see The Smiths Room.

"It is great that during the fundraising campaign we received £100,000 from Salford City Council, £50,000 from Morrissey, and £10,000 from Graham Nash and £30,000 from Cadent, all of which will go towards the youth work done here."

From mid July to November 30th this year the club had 1945 visitors of whom 95 percent were Smiths fans. They came from 49 different countries including Italy, Spain, USA and Canada, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, and Japan, with ages ranging from two to 94. They included 76 people who were ex club members or people tracing family history.

Now that the immediate cash crisis at the club has been tackled the aim is to set up a £1m Legacy Fund - a permanent endowment fund that could draw down £40,000 to £50,000 a year in returns.

The club offers sport and other activities six days a week to more than 200 young people in one of the most deprived areas of the country. It is based in Ordsall where 699 children under the age of 16 live in low-income families - 46 percent of all children in the area.

The 15x10 inches Smiths print costs £30 excluding post and packing, and the T-shirt costs £30.

https://salfordladsclub.org.uk/shop/