Going to the Match

Going to the Match is a series of photographs by photographer Richard Davis that depict football fans in the North West of England on matchdays in 1991. The series takes in supporters at Goodison Park, Anfield, Maine Road, Old Trafford and Boundary Park.

The limited edition A5 zine contains 42 black and white archival photographs across 44 pages.

1991 was to be a massive year in English football. The Premier League and all its glorious razzmatazz was just around the corner and the game across the country was undergoing a desperately needed makeover.

Richard Davis was in the frontline, capturing the transformation throughout the North West as football in the UK finally caught up with the trends sweeping Europe.

English clubs had been allowed back into European competition for the first time since 1985 after the Heysel Stadium disaster, and Paul Gascoigne, his World Cup Italia 90 heroics, and subsequent tears, inspired a whole new wave of fans.

Music, fashion and football had come together. Oasis, and the Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, were big Manchester City fans, as was The Smiths’ Johnny Marr. The ‘Madchester’ nightclub scene had taken off, with The Haçienda top of the list, co-owned by another huge City fan, Rob Gretton, manager of New Order and Joy Division.

“The early 90s came with a rejection of the dark days where tragedy and violence had dominated English football. Football was fashionable again. There seemed to be a shift towards a newer breed of fan interested in fashion, music and nightclubs. Young people were just as likely to wear t-shirts supporting their favourite band as they were to wear replica football tops.” 

Richard’s pictures capture that transformation as he put to good use his early days as a photographer covering the music scene.

“This was all long before digital cameras and smart phones. 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. This was the era before all-seater stadiums, when you could turn up on the day, pay at the turnstiles and stand next to your mates. There were no prawn sandwiches for sale, just the smell of frying onions and burgers.”

“To me, the photos feel like the last days of a traditional way of going to watch the football, stretching back to the days of the famous 1953 LS Lowry’s painting Going to the Match.” Richard Davis.