Meet the Sheffield United season ticket holder now creating tattoos for his favourite players
Joe Stanley has tattooed Sheffield United stars such as Sydie Peck, Gus Hamer and Andre Brooks in recent years
Rising tattoo artist Joe Stanley is living the dream of every boyhood Sheffield United fan.
He is linking up with the players for nights out, going to their houses and bringing their tattoo ideas to life in the process to build up an exclusive clientele.
Joe, who has long been a Sheffield United season ticket holder, has always wanted to make a living from his artwork. His passion started before he even became a teenager.
“I got gifted a tattoo machine when I was only 12-years-old. I actually got a machine at Christmas as a present. I never tattooed anyone until I was old enough but it’s always been a passion of mine,” he said.
Joe started tattooing professionally when he was 20-years-old, but was catapulted to prominence eight years into his career when a Sheffield United star, who was playing in the Premier League at the time, reached out to him.
“I started with Andre Brooks. He reached out to me and then shortly after that it led to loads of the other Sheffield United players wanting tattoos as well. I’ve done work for Sydie Peck, Sam Curtis, Gus Hamer, Daniel Jebbison (now of Preston North End), and then there’s a few others like Milutin Osmajić at Preston too.”
Joe also recently travelled to the south coast to tattoo Premier League striker and Bournemouth wonderkid Eli Junior Kroupi, who is currently enjoying a stellar season after hitting double figures for Cherries in his debut campaign at the Vitality Stadium.
When asked about the success of his business, Joe, who is based at the Da Vinci studio in Rotherham explained: “It’s a mixture of things really. I think it’s mainly from Instagram and Facebook when I post work that I’ve done with a player. But I think in my industry word of mouth definitely goes a long way too.
“One of my favourites that I’ve done so far is Gus Hamer’s back piece, it's two lions and it basically represents him and his son.”
Joe has enjoyed meeting his heroes and adds that he’s even been invited on nights out with some of them.
“I speak to Sydie Peck a lot. I class him as one of my pals and that’s the same with Dan Jebbison. I’m a Sheffield United season ticket holder and it’s class meeting the lads, getting the gossip and finding out what things are like behind the scenes. I’ve even been asked to go on night outs with the players, they’ve sometimes been able to get me tickets for away games and you get into that circle a bit which is great.”
Joe has built up a following of around 25,000 across various social media platforms, and is quickly building a reputation for producing specialist Sheffield United themed artwork.
“It's just snowballing at the minute and taking off. It’s all a bit mental. My waiting list is like 12 months at the moment. Everyone wants different stuff to do with Bramall Lane and the football club.
Joe has been through the highs and lows of football with the Blades. His favourite game is a 1-0 win over Arsenal in 2019, while he’s also been on several trips to Wembley Stadium, although those have been less successful he jokes.
When asked about Sheffield United’s promotion chances next season, he said: “I think next season will be good. Wilder’s definitely the man for us. I think he can get us up without having the money to spend.
“He's the best manager in the Championship and he’s at his best often when he’s working without loads of money as he just seems to have this ability to find really good players from nowhere on the cheap.”