Revealing the faces and stories behind football fandom

Date
16 May 2016

Disillusioned with the big money, corporatisation and headlines that were overshadowing the beautiful game, Toby Clark’s life-long love of football was fading fast. Toby, the founder of Blackhorse Lane Ateliers in north London had “followed football forever,” he says, but “fell out of love with the way money had changed it, and had changed the footballers and the people around football.” He adds: “It’s corrupted things, and it’s alienated the fans. They feel they can’t relate to it as much.”

His new project, Fandom, is the perfect antidote to the cash over personality crisis of the game, looking to make a book that tells the stories of the hardcore football fans that have made the game such a vital and passionate part of our culture. The as-yet-unrealised book will comprise images shot by photographer Ian MacDonald, accompanied by text written by acclaimed author and journalist Paolo Hewitt.

The charming and occasionally poignant images are beautifully shot, conveying each fan’s character and their unerring love for their team. Each participant was found through word of mouth. Toby explains: “Because the football industry in the UK is such a big part of the fabric of society, you can speak to anyone and they’ll know someone who would be great for the project. Then as soon as people know you’re doing a project like this, they put forward someone they know.”

The images are shot and the interviews are carried out all in one day, and the three subjects so far have loved the opportunity to explain their love of their club. “They get really excited, because it’s their life,” says Toby. “When they talk about it, it can get quite emotional.”

Above
Left

Ian MacDonald: Fandom (Brian)

Above
Left

Ian MacDonald: Fandom (Antony)

Above

Fandom

Share Article

About the Author

Emily Gosling

Emily joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in the summer of 2014 after four years at Design Week. She is particularly interested in graphic design, branding and music. After working It's Nice That as both Online Editor and Deputy Editor, Emily left the company in 2016.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.