From Portsmouth to Maidenhead, no ground has been left unturned for Dutch photographer Joris van de Wier and his love affair with British football, its stadiums and its culture.
Inspired by “the raw emotions of the supporters”, van de Wier kept returning for more until he had visited all 92 grounds in England’s top flight.
Mission accomplished? No. That was never enough for the intrepid photographer journalist who did not stop until he had taken in the 24 National League grounds as well, taking his grand tally to 116.
The seemingly never ending journey began one mid winter 2004 when Scunthorpe United were the visitors to Portsmouth’s Fratton Park for a January FA Cup tie that Pompey won 2-1.
Once a month from then on van de Wier packed his cameras and returned to British shores, taking in ground after ground. Port Vale concluded the 92 before, finally, Maidenhead, coming in at number 116, who had the honour of bringing to an end a footballing marathon that stretched back some 14 years.
“The raw emotions of the supporters, the colours, the architecture of the stadiums.”
It is these elements that have provided van de Wier with the motivation.
“I knew that some Englishmen do the 92, so I decided to go for the name ‘doing the 116’. Not that I planned to really do it, but I liked the name,” he said.
He obviously also liked the challenge, moving to Scotland in 2014 but continuing on his quest, even though he had left behind in Holland three pals who previously tended to go with him, and now he was on his own.
With the finishing line in sight, van de Wier, temporarily back in Holland, set off on a typically demanding trip, driving first to Dunkirk, crossing to England by boat in time to see West Bromwich Albion versus Aston Villa on the Friday, then onto Maidenhead the next day.
The match itself proved an anti climax, but van de Wier loved the ground and was determined to come back one more time at least when they were due to face local rivals Marlow. He knows his grounds and clearly knows his England football history as these two local rivals are part of a unique band of surviving clubs who featured in the first ever FA Cup over 150 years ago.
“I’m from Tilburg in The Netherlands and moved to Scotland eight years ago to follow Heart of Midlothian for a season and write a book,” he said. He describes himself as a writer/ journalist, and is into the culture surrounding football, co publishing the popular Dutch football magazine Staantribune, which means Terrace in English.
“We never do anything about transfers and tactics,” he said. “Just purely football culture. For most articles I write I take the photos as well.”
He has supported his local home town club Willem II, from the age of eight, back in 1987, and was a big fan of their English striker Kevin Maddock and also recalls the day PSV and the legendary Romario came to town.
“I started going to football from 1987,” he said. “First only home matches, but when I was in my teens always away. I preferred these away games.
“Going on the train to another city, making a day of it. Later, I think early 2000s, I discovered other countries. First with some friends we went to Belgium and Germany, but I always wanted to go to England.
“I like the differences in football culture between countries. Every country has their own habits. That’s why I love to go to different places.“
Joris van de Wier
“In January 2004 I went there the first time,” he recalled. “Portsmouth v Scunthorpe, fourth round FA Cup and I was hooked. Since that match I’ve been going once a month till I moved to Scotland.
“I just started taking photos at each match. Somewhere in 2006 I started a site called doingthe116 (it was a bit of a tongue in cheek name, because of doing the 92) and tried to take better photos.”
Stuart Clarke and Hans van der Meer are favourite photographers, while his own favourite pictures he has taken change almost on a daily basis.
“If I look back at last month there is one from San Lorenzo which I quite like with the stand and a father and his son just walking towards me. I also took one a couple of months ago at Stockport (pictured above) on the pitch which reminded me of ‘This is England’. But sometimes it’s just the surroundings.
“I like the differences in football culture between countries. Every country has their own habits. That’s why I love to go to different places. My favourite country is Argentina. Every area (barrio) has it’s own club and you’ll see the colours of that club all around the area which it’s based in.”
If you enjoyed that, you may also like Final Whistle – Marco Magielse’s tribute to untouched football stadiums in the UK..
Don’t miss out on Lower Block’s latest news and features. Subscribe to our newsletter below and give us a follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.