When the original mural of Brighton legend Bruno was removed, fan and business owner Rob Hill started a campaign to organise a replacement… #bringBrunoback. Here’s everything you need to know about the project which brought this new piece of art to life, and Bruno himself.
Bruno Saltor Grau is a Spanish footballer who retired from Brighton & Hove Albion in May 2019. During his time as a player he achieved legendary status as an outstanding defender and the team captain who led the club into the Premier League in 2017.
During his retirement speech Bruno declared “Once a seagull, always a seagull”, endearing him to the fans forever. The current manager, Graham Potter, has since appointed him Senior Player Development Coach to ensure he is still at the heart of the club with a focus on mentoring younger players.
The Original Bruno Mural
To mark Brighton’s first season in the Premier League, Sky Sports commissioned a huge mural to honour Bruno on the side of Gelato Gusto in the North Laine. It was a brilliant portrait entitled El Capitan and took artist Richard Wilson five hours to paint. It was iconic, and much loved by Brighton fans.
Unfortunately though, the mural was defaced with red paint by supporters of arch rivals Crystal Palace in November 2017 on the eve of their first Premier League encounter. Council workers worked hard overnight and restored the mural by 7.30am the next day. You can read about it here in a piece from The Argus. It was controversially replaced with a new piece in May 2019, a move which upset many Brighton fans who wanted a permanent tribute to their hero.
Bring Back Bruno Campaign
Long-standing loyal supporter, Rob Hill, CEO at The Stag Company started a campaign to paint a new Bruno mural, #bringBrunoback, and has commissioned a new design to be painted on a prominent wall in the city. Rob had seen murals of footballers in other cities such as Liverpool and wanted to replicate that in Brighton, as there is not much in the town centre to reflect the team and its achievements.
He ran a competition amongst fans and artists for a new design and commissioned Sean Lyons, aka Glimmertwin32, to paint it. Rob wanted to use a local artist and Sean is one of Brighton’s leading street artists and has painted pieces all over the city.
Bruno himself supported the campaign, saying “I am very proud that so many fans want to commemorate my time at BHA and I can only repeat to them what I said when I retired – Once a seagull, always a seagull!”.
Who Is Bruno?
I asked some of my Brighton-supporting friends what Bruno means to them and the answers are so inspiring. Here are some of the Bruno stories…
“Greatest beard in football”
“The BHAFC love affair for Bruno started early when he scored his first goal for Brighton – a rasping net-busting 30 yard volley! He offered the fans the stunning opportunity of the catchiest go-to terrace chant of ‘Ole Ole Ole Brunooooo Brunooooo’. Over the seasons his BHAFC performances were of a mature leader offering a solid, cool defence and an exciting attacking option from right back working superbly in the Championship on the right hand side of the pitch with another fans’ favourite, Anthony Knockaert.
Fan favourite status soared high when he went on to captain Brighton to the Premier League. Always known for interacting with the fans, Bruno is an incredibly nice guy on and off the pitch and a massive supporter of Albion in the community, supporting the ‘Common Goal’ cause through his salary. Fans love that Bruno lives locally and is often seen in Hove and in his restaurant ‘Latino America’. In his retirement speech at the Amex he spoke passionately to the fans of his love for Brighton and uttered the ultimate words ‘Once a Seagull always a Seagull’. With Bruno being much loved by Brighton fans it was a great move by the club to bring him into the new management setup. He has now achieved, in my opinion, Peter Ward, Bobby Zamora status and will one day be a Brighton manager. Bruno ‘El Capitan’ secured legend status personally for me by growing the greatest beard in football.”
Todge White, lifelong Seagulls supporter
“Great ambassador for the club”
“Being captain and getting us to the Premier League would be enough to earn legend status but its more the way he played, 100% commitment and lead by example and wonderfully skilled. Always a pleasure to watch him play in an Albion shirt. He got the best out of his team mates with his constant encouragement too. Off the pitch a great ambassador for the club.doing a lot for the community and always had time for the fans.”
Jim Rogerson, long time Albion fan
“Works hard with charity and the community”
“At the time Bruno joined the club it was coup to get a player of his pedigree. He was a fine technical player with possibly the best touch in the history of the club. He was an outstanding professional who became a natural leader and club captain. He also embraced the community and worked hard with charity and the Albion in the community.
He led us into the Premier League to confirm legend status and he was the oldest player in the prem. When the original mural was vandalised there was genuine outrage from across the city, not just fans. When he retired against Man City the emotion was there for all to see, he was adored. Then he made that ‘once a seagull always a seagull’ film that anounced his first day as a coach……just fantastic El Kapitan! Ole! Bruno”
Barry Hutton, veteran of all four home grounds
The campaign to #bringBrunoback
Rob Hill had wanted to commission a new mural since the last one was removed in May 2019. It’s taken six months for the project to come to fruition but Rob wanted Bruno to be on board and also hoped that the fans would be involved in the design. Bruno loved the idea, although he thought it was a wind-up initially!
Rob organised a competition to design the new piece and Bruno judged the final three before picking a winner. You can read all about it on The Stag Company website here.
The winning design depicts Bruno wearing his Brighton kit in his classic pose applauding the fans, something he did at the end of every match. It includes seagulls and the iconic phrase “Once a seagull, always a seagull” in script which is reminiscent of a tattoo. The creator of the new design wishes to remain anonymous but must be over the moon that their idea has been turned into reality.
The location of the new Bruno mural
The new Bruno mural is in a really prominent position on a busy road which leads into the city. It is at the bottom of Ditchling Road, where it meets The Level, on a building which used to be the Northern Tavern pub and sits on the corner of Kingsbury Street. The building is owned by Rob, who explained that it’s ideal as it has no windows on the side which is extremely unusual – and makes it a perfect canvas for this project!
Sean Lyons painted the mural over the course of three days in mid November. It was kept under wraps behind sheeting which covered the scaffolding, which made it extremely challenging.
It was impossible for Sean to judge whether his work was the correct perspective as he couldn’t step back and see how it looked. He would only see the finished article when the scaffolding was removed, on the big day when the new mural was revealed.
The new Bruno mural
When I met Rob and his colleague Lynsey it was clear how much he loves Brighton and felt passionately that Bruno deserves to be honoured with the new mural. He realises he’s in a unique position, having the resources to be able to organise such a project and the ideal location to use.
As Rob says, “This is for the fans. I want them to come on match days, for their faces to light up when they see the new Bruno, for them to think ‘that’s Brighton, that’s a legend’, to feel warm inside”.
The big reveal
Organising the reveal for the new Bruno mural was a challenge in itself. The scaffolding came down briefly when Sean completed the first draft of the mural, so that they could get an idea of perspective for Bruno’s features. Then it went back up so that Sean could finish it off. The timing was crucial for when the scaffolding could be removed, on a day and time when Bruno was available to be there, as well as organising publicity for the event. Artist Sean was keen to be there as soon as the sheeting was removed, to check how the mural looked.
The finished mural was revealed on December 10th when a small crowd of onlookers joined Bruno, his wife Raquel, Sean and Rob to watch the workmen remove all traces of scaffolding. Once it was down, we could all see the new Bruno mural properly, and it’s a brilliant tribute on a massive scale. In total it’s over seven metres high, and five metres wide. The use of colour is really effective, with Bruno in monochrome but his Brighton shirt with its classic blue stripes.
The ‘El Capitan’ armband is a nice touch and a reference to the original mural. With the seagulls flying around him, and the famous quote ‘Once a Seagull, always a Seagull’, it’s the perfect tribute to a legendary player.
Bruno himself was delighted. “It’s amazing”, he said, “I’m so happy that Rob and Lynsey have organised this, and really honoured to have this done for me, it’s lovely to feel the love from the fans”. Bruno then surprised Rob by presenting him with a signed Brighton shirt.
Bruno’s wife Raquel added “I love what it represents, for the next generation, and for our kids”.
Bruno was really keen to hear how Sean managed to produce such a large mural. As Sean said, “It was really exciting to be painting a local hero”.
The final word goes to Rob Hill, the driving force behind the project. “Our main aim was to bring the mural back and celebrate a legend. A lot of work has been put into this community project and we are really happy that Bruno likes it.”
New Bruno mural gallery
There are many more photos in the gallery below, of Sean in action painting the mural, as well as the final piece.
Donate to JustGiving
Rob has set up a JustGiving page to raise money for Albion In The Community which is the official charity of Brighton & Hove Albion FC. It aims to deliver high-quality, accessible opportunities that improve the health and wellbeing, education and aspirations of the local community. Rob is hoping that fans who love the mural will donate and raise as much as possible for this great charity.
More about Glimmertwin32
Glimmertwin32 is the tag of Sean Lyons who is a local street artist who has painted many pieces around the city, including in shops, on shutters and other local businesses. He sprayed some angel wings in my honour in Trafalgar Lane (read about it here), and his work features in my latest Scooters And Brighton Street Art post. You can follow him on Instagram here to see more of his work and contact him for commissions.
Visit Brighton
If you’re planning to visit Brighton, whether it’s for a football match or to check out the amazing street art there then there are plenty of great deals on Booking.com. Parking can be really expensive so take care when choosing a car park. I use Just Park which offers great value parking, sometimes on residents’ drives, which is so easy to book in advance and not get ripped off.
Booking.comMore Brighton posts
I’ve written many articles about Brighton and they are listed below if you want to read more!
– Brighton Graffiti Tour
– Fun and quirky things to do in Brighton
– Secrets of the West Pier
– Street Art In Brighton
– My Favourite Brighton Shops
– Scooters And Street Art
– Best Paste-Up Street Art in Brighton