A WORLD FROM BEHIND THE LENS

Depicting the changing face of football - in pictures

- Matt Badcock

AS THE old saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words — and now iconic football magazine When Saturday Comes are delving into their unique photography archive to produce a photobook that will capture the heart of the game.

Photographers Colin McPherson, Simon Gill and Paul Thompson have been shooting matches from the Champions League to the West Cheshire League for WSC for the past 20 years.

It’s allowed them a privileged vantage point to capture how football has changed and developed down the years.

“It’s not just about filling space in the magazine every month,” McPherson, who started out writing for the magazine, tells The NLP. “It’s about documenting what football means to supporters — that’s everybody from Champions League right down the Pyramid almost to grass-roots. I’ve done the West Cheshire League, for example. It’s a great range.

“But what unites the photograph, and the photographers, is a real interest and passion as football fans. And a desire to really get to the heart to the game. To discover what it is that makes people come back every week to watch club, discover new grounds — to continue to be in love with football.”