Cult football magazine When Saturday Comes has launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish what promises to be a must have football photobook for avid fans of the beautiful game.
AT THE MATCH, as it will be titled, will celebrate 20 years of WSC football photography, taken by it’s core team of snappers, Simon Gill, Colin McPherson and Paul Thompson.
The curated photobook will document match day experiences across the UK and Ireland, covering all levels of football from grassroots to the Premier League.
The photographs, as shown by those included in this article, will take in all aspects of the game; the fans’ joy and despair, the variety of stadiums, parks and pitches up and down the country, and the match day rituals of loyal supporters for whom football and the clubs they follow play a central role in their lives.
The funds raised will go towards producing a high quality, carefully curated, 240-page hardback book, which will be designed and edited by top sports photobook designer and publisher Doug Cheeseman.
When Saturday Comes was first published in 1986, specialising in alternative football journalism and providing a voice for true fans. The WSC photo archive includes over 15,000 photographs showcasing football as it is experienced by those who participate in it, focussing on the connection between clubs and their supporters, something they feel makes their collection unrivalled and what will make this book so special – something WSC think is something well worth celebrating, and we agree.
About the photographers…
Simon Gill first watched Watford from the Vicarage Road terrace in 1984 when he was eight years old. Three years later, he found himself in the role of unofficial ballboy as Luther Blissett and John Barnes played tennis during Steve Sherwood’s testimonial day.
After gaining a degree in design photography he began a career in sports photography, working for an agency. In 2005 he joined the team at When Saturday Comes and has photographed football all over Europe.
He took the portrait for the jacket of In His Own Words, the autobiography of former Lincoln City, Watford, Aston Villa and England manager Graham Taylor.
Colin McPherson’s association with When Saturday Comes magazine dates back to the 1980s when he wrote for them about Scottish football in his capacity as co-editor of the notorious Meadowbank Thistle fanzine, AWOL.
Once he reached adulthood, he discovered photography and over the last 30 years has work extensively for almost every Fleet Street newspaper, agencies and magazines.
He is a member of two collectives, Document Scotland and SixBySix, and has covered matches over two decades for WSC, contributing to the publication’s archive of over 15,000 images.
Based in the Oblong of Dreams, Colin actively tries to avoid watching his boyhood favourites, Tranmere Rovers, preferring to spend Saturdays as assistant manager to the all-conquering AC Hoylake Galaxy Girls under-15s, when not on assignment for WSC.
Paul Thompson was introduced to football when his father took him to see Jack Charlton’s all-conquering 1970s Middlesbrough side.
After the Taylor Report, Paul decided to photograph the experience of watching football from the terraces. His first football work was a record of Middlesbrough’s relegation from the Premier League in 1992-93, as seen from the Holgate End at Ayresome Park.
He documented Boro’s last season at Ayresome Park in 1994-95, as a joint project with artist Tim Heatherington. He also interviewed and photographed more than 50 former Middlesbrough players between 1996 and 2002.
If the Kickstarter is successful, WSC plans to print next year, ready for publication in May 2024.
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