Nice One Son | A football weekend away in the Netherlands

April 20, 2023

Football holds a special place in many peoples lives for many different reasons. All unique, and all totally valid. After all – football is for everyone.

That first kick of a football, first football shirt, the team you support, the first match you watched live… can often be traced back to something shared with your Dad.

Not saying a word kicking a ball about in the living room together, sitting together on the terraces or the sofa picking apart your teams tactical deficiencies – much safer ground than talking about who you fancy at school. It’s during moments like these that connections are made and lifelong bonds built.

For James Shenton and his 18 year-old son Thomas, football was always there thing. It bonded them together and was the foundation of how they communicated; most comfortable openly chatting about the match.

James wasn’t in a relationship with Thomas’ mother when he was born. But every weekend since then they’ve been together, football being the ever present connection between the two of them.

It was always a dream of James’ to take Thomas away on a European football trip, and the Netherlands ticked a lot of the boxes for the perfect football weekend.

Here, James talks candidly about his relationship with his son; how anxious he was about the trip, getting to know the man his son is becoming, taking time to explain his own past. Constantly asking himself: Would they have enough to talk about?

An aspiring photographer, and teacher of creative media production at a Greater Manchester college, James used the opportunity to document the match day atmosphere’s in Eindhoven and Rotterdam, paying particular attention to the architecture of the De Kuip and Philips Stadiums.

PSV Eindhoven, Philips Stadium. PSV 4-0 Excelsior. 08.04.23

Dutch football trip. PSV Eindhoven, Philips Stadion. — @ James Shenton

Lower Block: What does football mean to you?

James Shenton: Football has been the connection since Thomas was born. I took him to his first football session when he was 4 years-old. Poor lad is a goalkeeper!

We have had season tickets at Everton since 2015/16 and he also has one at Stalybridge Celtic, I follow Hyde United as well so there’s a bit of rivalry between us as well.

I’d been meaning to take him on a footie trip for years but then Covid hit. I was worried about spending so much time together, wondering what we would we talk about and it turns out we’d talk about football, lots! Thomas has always talked to me the most when going to Goodison.

LB: Tell us about the trip, how did it come about?

JS: I think father and son relationships are very complicated, especially as men get older. I saw this trip as a way of spending time with Thomas primarily and football just happened to be the context/location/setting, one we are both comfortable with and one we have shared for 15 years ever since his first game at Goodison when he was 5 years old.

He goes to University in September and I wanted time just for me and him. I don’t think you ever truly get to know your child’s personality as they get older as they perform the character of ‘Son’ or ‘Daughter’ when in the company of their parents. I wonder if I will ever know my boy’s actual personality. In the meantime I am over the moon and couldn’t be prouder of the version of Thomas that I know. I saw this as a chance to enjoy his company, discuss his future and my past so he got to know me a little better.

We set off on the Friday together, a 4pm flight direct to Eindhoven from Manchester, which is only an hour, then staying in hotel close to the Philips Stadium, but also amongst some of main bars in Eindhoven.

On the Saturday morning we walked up to the Philips Stadium to take in the scene whilst it was quiet, before watching Everton get beat off United with a German lad who we befriended on our walk around the ground, unfortunately he was a United fan.

We wanted to head up to the ground 90 mins before kick-off. Went to the Eindhoven Bar across the road for the stadium. The game was against Excelsior, a team from Rotterdam whose ground holds 4500, ironically the same as some of the Non League sides I go to.

On the Sunday we got a 1 hour train to Rotterdam Centraal. The architecture of Rotterdam is stunning and feels like an American big city. I found the contrast of the Mosque and the stadium really interesting, signifying a cultural shift in the Netherlands and one seemingly of cultural and religious acceptance.

Again we got there before kick-off to have a walk around. There seemed to be a lot more families at the Feyenoord game but a better atmosphere.

LB: How was it that Everton became your team?

JS: I was born in Stoke and moved to Greater Manchester in 1984 but became an Everton fan when I was 7 in 1988 when my next door neighbour, who was 4 years older than me, became a Manchester United fan and gave me a load of Everton gear. This was when Everton were obviously still a force, but me becoming a fan signalled their slow decline, starting with the loss in the 1989 FA Cup Final. My older brother was a Liverpool fan, along with my Mum and Grandfather who were all born in Huyton, Liverpool.

My biggest football idol growing up was Duncan Ferguson, I was at the home game against Manchester United in 1995 when he scored the winner, a towering header obviously and adored him ever since. Growing up in the 90s as an Evertonian, heroes were a bit thin on the ground. Duncan just had the passion and fight you want every Everton player to show and he scored some memorable goals.

I also loved Neville Southall. He epitomised everything about being an Evertonian and the transition from European elite to slow decline, a man who really knows what the clubs standards should be as he experienced it all.

However, the best player I have ever seen live was not at an Everton game, it was Liverpool verus Newcastle in the League Cup, sat in the back of the Kop with my brother and Dad. David Ginola was the star of the show. The way he moved and took on players was thrilling and got you off your seat.

My first Everton game was the 1994 Wimbledon game when we stayed up. My Dad took me and we sat in the Bullens Road underneath the away fans and he wouldn’t let me run on the pitch at full time. I had only been an Everton fan 6 years at this point but it felt like forever and this game gave me an instant connection to the club, strengthened even more so now with my son.

LB: What drew you towards football as a fan?

JS: Top flight football has become more like blockbusting entertainment for TV, cynical I know. The main reason I still go to the game is to spend time with my son. My Dad has stopped going since Covid, but for me now it is about the time with Thomas as he absolutely loves Everton.

I still get the same buzz of anticipation walking to our seats that I did as a kid and nothing beats being in the ground watching the game, you weirdly feel like you can affect the outcome with your presence.

Over recent years I have probably become disillusioned with the league and what feels like a closed shop. Last year and this season have actually been exciting but for the wrong reasons.

Watching the same performances and results each year just with a different manager has taken its toll.

Feyenoord, De Kuip – Stadion Feijenoord. Feyenoord 5-1 RKC Waalwijk. 09.04.23.

Dutch football trip. Feyenoord, De Kuip — @ James Shenton

LB: How did you get into photography?

JS: I got into photography as a way of switching off from work at the weekends and getting out of the house with the family, mainly focussing on landscape work. This evolved as a way to improve my teaching practice and broaden my career horizons in terms of what I was qualified to teach, I now have an MA in Photography.

I like capturing moments that grab people’s attention and have meaning, and always looking for that next image/scene that may be my best photo. I love how photography doesn’t tell the full story and gives power to the viewer to fill in the gaps and for them to provide meaning depending on their own understanding and experience, but it can also give them an experience and tap into emotions.

What kit did you use for this project?

I usually shoot with a Canon 6DMKII with a 24-70 lens but I didn’t want to lug around a big camera all day so I borrowed a mates Fuji X-T20 using the 18-55 kit lens. It’s small and compact so I could shoot all weekend without feeling like I had a massive anchor with me.

LB: What makes photographing football culture such a fascinating subject?

JS: Being in a foreign land and seeing how they ‘do football’ was fascinating as it is very similar to the UK. Walking to the ground some fellas took us to where the hard core fans drank 2.50 Euro half beers, not sure they were happy about the guy with the camera. You can see Burberry and Stone Island everywhere. They seem a lot more organised in creating a pre match and match atmosphere than top flight fans in England.

I also like the community around football and the sense of belonging is the most important thing. Connections no matter how big or small, like the connection between me and my son, me and my friends. Everton are a great community club for that.

LB: From this series, do you have a favourite photograph?

JS: it is probably the image in the toilet’s at PSV with the lad on the right, just as he is thinking ‘why is this fella taking a pic of the bogs?!’ Football toilets are important pieces of history. The Goodison ones have no warm water, smell of cigarettes and somewhere we all go to let out a big breath of relief or frustration, capturing the eye of fellow fans in a look of knowing like ‘thank f*ck we won that!’

LB: Any advice or tips for other aspiring photographers?

JS: Shoot everything as something may just happen by chance, especially with digital, no limits to frames. Also when shooting a community, take time to listen to people and their stories as they are keen to talk, you can make connections and friends. In my past project, speaking to someone for 2 hours to shoot a portrait and it wasn’t even that good but I enjoyed the 2 hours speaking to the fella. There are also people I have shot who I am still in contact with on a friendship level.

LB What’s next for you?

JS: I want to document the last season at Goodison through portraits of fans and maybe create a book with the details of the first game they attended. You can check out the ongoing project here.