A former Premier League player has created a tribute to Liverpool icon Diogo Jota
Jody Craddock
A former Premier League star has created a tribute to Diogo Jota(Image: Instagram/@jody_craddock_)
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Former Wolves star Jody Craddock has produced a heartfelt tribute to Diogo Jota. The paintings produced by the footballer-turned-artist will be on display ahead of Liverpool taking on Wolves at Molineux in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday.
In July 2025, Liverpool forward Jota and his younger brother Andre Silva tragically died in a car crash in Spain. The footballing world was rocked by the deaths of Diogo and Andre, who played for Portuguese side Penafiel.
Jota signed for Liverpool from Wolves in 2020, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup during his time at Anfield. The 28-year-old scored 65 goals in 182 games for the Reds.
He arrived in English football after joining Wolves from Atletico Madrid in 2017, helping the club achieve Premier League promotion and later qualify for European football. Liverpool and Wolves’ shared adoration of Jota has been demonstrated on several occasions already this season.
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As both sides prepare to meet in the FA Cup, Wolves have been working alongside their former captain Craddock to produce artwork dedicated to Jota. In a touching detail, the paint used was made from the flowers left as tributes to Jota and his brother outside Molineux.
In an earlier Instagram post about the collaboration, the ex-Wolves skipper said: “Lately, I haven't been able to show you what I’ve been up to with my paintings.
“It’s a project with the Wolves and it involves these paints. These are very special paints that were made up from the flowers that were left outside the stadium by the fans in memory of Diogo and his brother.
“The Wolves have asked me to do some paintings in memory of Diogo, which will go up in the stadium and will be ready very, very soon. I hope you like them, I’ve really enjoyed painting them and they’re going to be done with these amazing paints.”
Diogo Jota celebrates as a Liverpool player
Diogo Jota spent five seasons with Liverpool (Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Known as a no-nonsense defender in his playing days, Craddock made a combined 189 Premier League appearances for Sunderland and Wolves. While his transformation into an artist may come as a surprise to some, it seemed straightforward to the retired centre-back.
"I could play football and I could paint. It's all I could do," Craddock told the BBC in 2015. "I think it's common knowledge that I'm an artist. That's what I naturally went into when I retired from football.”
He added: "When I retired, I then experimented with graffiti and photo realism. But I needed something that can be taken seriously, that looks good and that people will look and recognise. There's not a lot out there that has not already been done, so to think of something original and different was hard."
Becoming an artist was not a new hobby Craddock developed after retiring from the sport in 2013. Instead, the Wolves icon believes his passion can be traced back through his family.
“When I left school, football obviously came first, but I continued to paint for my own enjoyment,” he told FourFourTwo in 2004. “It had become a passion, albeit not one I really discussed much with other people.”
Craddock continued: "Ever since I can remember I've enjoyed drawing. Even as a kid, I thought I had a pretty good eye for it. I always thought I took after my dad and granddad in that respect, because they both have a flair for sketching, but I recently discovered that the talent runs even deeper in the family.
“Letters have been found that my great-great-granddad wrote to his wife more than 100 years ago, and they’re illustrated with the most amazing cartoons and doodles. So I guess this love of drawing really is in the blood – only I've taken a step further."
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