Tag Archives: stadium

May 17 2026
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Daily Post, Sport

Leicester City have a huddle

Saturday 16th May 2026, 1.00pm (day 5,378)

Leicester huddle, 16/5/26

Lengthy huddles are a feature of women’s football, in fact it seems they are obligatory for teams at every level. Not that this particular huddle helped Leicester City very much in their match at Everton this afternoon: already bottom of the league and facing a relegation play-off, they lost 1-0. I choose the shot because the palate is pleasing: the pink of their shirts seems matched by the coverings on the seats behind. Everton’s men’s team left the historic Goodison Park at the start of the season for their new stadium on the dockside, and the women now occupy it as ‘the biggest dedicated women’s stadium in the country’, which is nice for them but does mean there was a lot of empty space: a couple of thousand people were in attendance.

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Apr 29 2026
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Daily Post, Sport

Out of sequence

Tuesday 28th April 2026, 7.40pm (day 5,360)

Blue seats, 28/4/26

At some point in the future — and it may be next week, next year or whatever — there will come a day on which, at the end of it, I will be forced to admit to myself that I have taken no photos worth publishing. Today was nearly that day. Blue plastic seats (specifically at the West Riding County FA headquarters, on the edge of Leeds) won’t raise it for most people, artistically or spiritually. And even if there’s a certain interest in the repetitive pattern my shadow spoils the composition.

But enough apologies! Look, the numbers are in a random order. Which is why I took the shot in the first place, I suppose…

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Apr 12 2026
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Daily Post, Sport

Play-off semi-final

Saturday 11th April 2026, 4.35pm (day 5,343)

Beverley Town crowd, 11/4/26

Some leagues get themselves wrapped up early, like the Northern Counties East League, which has already reached its play-offs. These are fans of Beverley Town, the home team. There are about 10 minutes to go on the clock at this point (though what they don’t yet know is that the ref is going to keep things going for about 20) and the 1-0 lead is going to be retained, don’t worry folks — although if you ask me most of them are looking at their phones at this point.

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Feb 23 2026
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Just about on duty

Sunday 22nd February 2026, 5.40pm (day 5,295)

St Helens steward, 22/2/26

It may seem surprising that these seats were not filled for a Merseyside derby, but this was Liverpool v Everton in the Women’s FA Cup, and also not being played in the city of Liverpool but in the stadium of St Helens rugby league team. There was a reasonable crowd packed into one side of the ground but the other three stands were mostly left empty. Someone’s still got to be ready to retrieve the balls, though. Or maybe this guy’s simply taking a break and hoping no one’s noticed.

This shot could be in sharper focus, but never mind, I like its repetitive character.

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Jan 08 2026
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Daily Post, Sport

Arriving at the Etihad

Wednesday 7th January 2026, 6.35pm (day 5,249)

Etihad arrival, 7/1/26

Another picture of fans arriving at a football stadium, but unlike Sunday, at least we saw a game today. Manchester City v Brighton was my first Premier League game since April 2022 and only the second in the last six years. Habits have changed…. but I suppose I still feel a certain sense of allegiance. And no, not to Manchester City. It was nice to see some old mates in the away end tonight, £30 for a ticket was an acceptable price and a 1-1 draw was a reasonable result. I pick this shot because of its Blade Runner-like qualities, as much as anything. Let’s turn on all those lights…. and worry about the electricity bills later, shall we?

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Dec 29 2025
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Daily Post, Sport

Scottish League Two

Saturday 27th December 2025, 3.30pm (day 5,238)

Forfar Athletic, 27/12/25

I wasn’t trekking all the way to Scotland without adding one more to my life list of football grounds, and as there’s not much else to the town of Forfar (though it seemed a perfectly decent place), Station Park, home of Forfar Athletic FC, can get the nod for today’s shot. At this point I think it’s 1-1; the final score was 4-2 to the hosts, over Elgin City, with Scott Shepherd of Forfar scoring all four of their goals and thereby winning the game more or less on his own. These things keep me going…

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Jul 13 2025
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Pleasureland…

Saturday 12th July 2025, 2.40pm (day 5,070)

Arbroath Pleasureland, 11/7/25

Great Britain is the only place which tries to do seaside resorts at around 57ºN, and in a location which, as it proved today, is prone to being covered in sea mist (here they call it haar) when the whole rest of the country bathes in sunshine. But Arbroath perseveres. Get a ticket for Arbroath FC — part of one stand of it is in the background, with visiting St Mirren fans — and you can get £12.50 worth of credit at Pleasureland for just £10. Or so we were told.

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May 15 2025
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Daily Post, Portrait, Sport, Stranger

Pre-match atmosphere

Wednesday 14th May 2025, 7.45pm (day 5,011)

Halifax fans, 14/5/25

Two minutes to go before kick-off and someone, somewhere lets off a flare to add to the atmosphere. The two guys in the centre look pretty tense about it all. And considering their team are about to concede three soft goals in the first 12 minutes of the game that is to come, they were justified — not that they knew that at this point. Final score, Oldham Athletic 4, Halifax Town 0. This lot all go home now and wait for next season.

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Apr 18 2025
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Daily Post, Sport

View obscured by flags

Thursday 17th April 2025, 7.50pm (day 4,984)

Bradford City flags, 17/4/25

When buying tickets for football grounds with which one is not wholly acquainted, it might help if warnings were issued to the casual fan: “You are entering an area occupied entirely by people who want to stand up throughout the game and wave flags.” I mean, I admire their enthusiasm and respect their support — but after a few minutes, I moved, somewhere right up the top.

This is Bradford City’s ground; their game against Notts County attracted over 20,000 people to see a fourth-tier game — so someone, somewhere is doing something right…

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Mar 24 2025
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Daily Post, Sport

Watching the match (1)

Saturday 22nd March 2025, 4.30pm (day 4,958)

Back of Rhyl FC, 22/3/25

A double-bill to fill out the weekend, because I saw a lot of football, and not much else. This one is taken about half an hour before kick-off at the second match of the weekend, at Rhyl FC, where the Wales Under-19 team were playing Portugal in front of quite a big crowd, at least for the size of the ground. (A seagull crashes the shot for the second day in a row.) They were to see defeat, however: Portugal won 1-0.

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