Ninety thousand fans will pack Wembley to the rafters when this season’s FA Cup reaches its climax and two of the Premier League’s big guns go head to head.

But for dedicated photographer Duncan Elliott the journey began nine months ago, in front of an official attendance of just 355 hardy, hopeful spectators as Greater Manchester North West Counties League rivals, West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC and neighbouring Avro contested an extra preliminary round tie at Brookburn Road, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy.

Extra Preliminary Qualifying Round: West Didsbury and Chorlton 1-3 Avro

And so began a 15 match, 2,750 mile, journey for Elliott’s project, The FA Cup Run, that leads all the way to Wembley.

Explains Elliott: “For years I’d heard about Ground Hoppers trying to get to all of the League’s 92 grounds or doing something like My Road To Wembley and thought I’d like to try it one year. 

“Last season I followed the winning team through the cups and followed the results for something to do during all the lockdowns. 

“This season I thought I’d give getting to all the games a go as a fan but it was too good an opportunity not to try and make it into a photography project.”

Preliminary Qualifying Round: Avro 1-1 Runcorn Linnets (Replay: Runcorn Linnets 4-1 Avro)

Elliott started by documenting the people within the club; the players, managers, and staff, photographing them in their usual surroundings.

“As the competition went on and the clubs grew bigger I wanted to show how the money changes the surroundings but not necessarily the people,” he said.

But by the time the first League clubs entered the fray, and Charlton Athletic came on the radar, Covid restrictions had come back in.

“I wasn’t able to get the same access as I had done during the previous rounds, ” he said, “so I adapted the project to take on a fans view point of the cup; traveling to the game, pre-match build up, the passion in the stands and the action on the pitch.”

The final will be the 15th game Elliott will have focused on, including replays, in which he has followed seven different sides as the tournament ebbed and flowed.

First Round Qualifying: Runcorn Linnets 2-0 Liversedge  

Avro went out in the next round, beaten in a Preliminary qualifying round replay by Runcorn Linnets, who then enjoyed a great cup run, seeing off Liversedge and Bamber Bridge before Gateshead proved too good in a tight 3-2 third qualifying round defeat.

Now it was Gateshead’s turn to go on a run, with Elliott and camera in tow, as they made it through to the second round proper, seeing off Marske United and then Altrincham, both going to replays.

Fourth Round Qualifying: Marske United 0-0 Gateshead (Replay Gateshead 3-2 Marske United) 

Next up: League One south Londoners Charlton Athletic, who were to triumph 2-0.

Now it was Premier League side Norwich City, and the Canaries were flying, with two narrow only goal victories putting paid to first Charlton and then Wolves as they made it through to the fifth round.

Third Round: Charlton Athletic 0-1 Norwich City⁠

Fourth Round: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Norwich City

And there they met eventual finalists Liverpool, at the top of their game, fighting for four trophies themselves.

Fifth Round: Liverpool 2-1 Norwich City

Out went Norwich 2-1, which presented a quarter final tie with high flying Championship side Nottingham Forest. Liverpool won that 1-0 to set up a Wembley semi-final with Manchester City and a thrilling 3-2 triumph.

Now it’s Chelsea, and Elliott is raring to go, seeking out the passion that gives his pictures such a lift.

“There’s so much passion there,” he says.

“People can really lose themselves in football, especially when they’re in a group surrounded by other like minded people. It’s tribal, that belonging, the unity of it, it’s really powerful. 

“It’s a global language. You could be anywhere in the world, mention a club or a player to someone and you can usually strike up some form of conversation. 

“It can be played in the streets with something cobbled together for a ball to the World Cup Final in a stadium that costs millions, with billions of people watching on TV. 

“There are so many stories to tell, finding those stories and photographing them is a fantastic challenge.”

Quarter Final: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Liverpool⁠

Elliott is clearly in love with the game as much as in his photography.

Leeds United are his team, and he recalls the glory days and the glory goals of the likes of Tony Yeboah. Yet it was Leeds’ relegation from the top flight that instilled in Elliott a greater sense of well being.

“In a weird way Leeds being relegated to League One brought back the joy of football to me,” he said.

“By that point, it wasn’t so much about the football any more, because quite often it was awful, but it became more about getting to the games with mates, having some pints and getting amongst the atmosphere. 

“Now at football games I always try to be in or near where the atmosphere is and it’s one of the elements of football that inspires me.”

His pictures capture the very essence of the game, while his choice of equipment helps provide the quality he seeks.

“I’ve been using the FujiFilm cameras – the x100f for the reportage photography, it’s small so it doesn’t direct a lot of attention to itself,” he said.

“For the staged portraits and the sports photography I’ve been using the GFX 100s. It’s a medium format camera so it’s a lot slower than the cameras most of the other photographers that I’m shooting along side during the matches are using, but it delivers incredible images.

“They look fantastic when they’re printed – which I’m looking to do with this project with a book or exhibition.”

This season’s FA Cup run for Elliott is nearly over, with the final beckoning. It stretches all the way back to August and that extra preliminary round tie at West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC from which the long road to Wembley began.

Elliott’s own photographic journey has been just as long and varied, coincidentally beginning with Cup minnows Runcorn Linnets who were the very first team he ever covered photographically and who feature yet again in a quite intriguing photographic record of one of the World’s greatest Cup competitions.

Semi-final: Manchester City 2-3 Liverpool 

There will be a global audience of millions watching on the day, a far cry from the 355 who went through the turnstiles all those months ago.

But they all shared the same dream. Glory beckons. For 90 minutes at least.

Duncan Elliott’s FA Cup Run captures it all.

You can check out Elliott’s pictures from the FA Cup final clash between Liverpool and Chelsea here.