A new photo zine titled Going to the Match by photographer Richard Davis takes readers back to the early 1990s, offering a nostalgic and striking visual record of football fans in the North West of England. Published to coincide with an exhibition at Bury Art Museum, the zine features 42 black-and-white photographs taken on matchdays in 1991 at some of the most iconic football stadiums, including Goodison Park, Anfield, Maine Road, Old Trafford, and Boundary Park. This limited-edition A5 zine spans 44 pages and serves as a historical snapshot of football culture at a time when the sport in England was on the brink of massive transformation.
1991 was a pivotal year in English football. The Premier League, with all its commercial appeal and global reach, was just around the corner, set to launch in 1992. This marked a significant shift in the way the sport was consumed and experienced across the country, particularly in the North West, home to some of England’s most storied clubs. Richard Davis was at the forefront of capturing this moment of change, as football in the UK began to shed its rough, often chaotic past and embrace a new era of modernisation, fuelled by music, fashion, and a younger generation of fans.
At the time, English clubs were returning to European competition for the first time since 1985, following the Heysel Stadium disaster, which had resulted in a five-year ban. The early ’90s were also marked by the influence of Italia 90, where Paul Gascoigne’s emotional performances made him a national hero. His tears, particularly after England’s heartbreaking exit in the semi-final, inspired a new wave of fans who saw football as more than just a sport but a cultural movement that encompassed fashion, music, and lifestyle.
Richard Davis’s photography is more than just a collection of matchday snapshots; it is a documentation of the fans themselves – their rituals, their camaraderie, and the subcultures they embodied. Football in 1991 wasn’t just about the game. Music and fashion had intertwined with the sport, with the burgeoning ‘Madchester’ scene playing a big role in shaping the culture. Bands like Oasis, fronted by lifelong Manchester City supporters Liam and Noel Gallagher, and The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, also a City fan, epitomised this crossover. Clubs and nightclubs, particularly The Haçienda in Manchester, became as much a part of the football experience as the stadiums themselves. “The early 90s came with a rejection of the dark days where tragedy and violence had dominated English football,” Davis reflects. “Football was fashionable again.”
Going to the Match | Richard Davis
A series of photographs that depict football fans in the North West of England on matchdays in 1991. The series takes in Goodison Park, Anfield, Maine Road, Old Trafford and Boundary Park.
A limited edition A5 zine containing 42 black and white archival photographs across 44 pages.
This sense of transformation and renewal is evident in Davis’s work. His black-and-white photographs serve as a time capsule, capturing the energy of a bygone era. As he notes, “This was long before digital cameras and smartphones. Taking a camera and shooting photos of fans at the football was pretty unusual and rare, often looked at suspiciously by both supporters and police.” The photographs capture fans as they were, in their raw and authentic forms, outside the stadiums and standing on the terraces, wearing a mix of band t-shirts and football tops, a visual representation of how culture and sport were merging at the time.
For Davis, the series also represents the end of an era in English football. His images capture the last days of a time where fans could simply turn up on matchday, pay at the turnstiles, and watch the game with friends. “There were no prawn sandwiches for sale, just the smell of frying onions and burgers,” he recalls. “There was a more openness at the football which rejected outdated attitudes on racism and sexism. Definitely more and more women and kids started going, which was a good thing.”
The Going to the Match zine has been published to coincide with an exhibition of the same name at Bury Art Museum, running from October 2024 to March 2025. Central to the exhibition is LS Lowry’s iconic 1953 painting Going to the Match, which depicts fans making their way to a Bolton Wanderers game at Burnden Park. The painting has a storied history, having been on display at The Lowry since 2000, and after a record-breaking £7.8 million purchase in 2022, it is now part of The Lowry Collection. The painting is on a year-long tour of five North West venues, with Bury Art Museum being one of the stops.
In addition to Davis’s photographs and the famous Lowry painting, the exhibition will also feature contributions from other artists, photographers, and local creatives, all of whom explore football culture in the region. Highlights include a series of photographs of Bury Football Club fans by photographer Debs Parr, memorabilia from Bury FC, and a booklet of fan memories. The exhibition also includes works by Peter Hill, who captured Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United in 1977, and photographs of Manchester City fans taken by Davis in 2023, offering a contrast between football culture then and now.
The exhibition, along with the Going to the Match zine, not only celebrates the game but also explores its cultural significance. Through art and photography, the project highlights how football, music, fashion, and fan communities have shaped the identity of the North West over the years. For those passionate about football, art, and history, the exhibition and zine offer a rich, immersive experience, allowing fans to reconnect with a golden era of the sport just before it was forever changed by the advent of the Premier League.
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