With interest in football growing fast, buoyed by reaching the quarter finals in the 1964 Olympics, Japan sought a visit from a top British team. Step forward the Binos.
Photographer Stuart Roy Clarke portrays nothing less than the national spirit, glimpsed through the lens of Britain’s national game. For 30 years he has been making a portrait of who we are in relation to the game of all games, our Football. Clubs big and small sit shoulder to shoulder. Stadiums rise up and others are more humble. Clarke is fascinated in them all. And in us: the people who make the football experience what it is.
Those before can tell of European campaigns and giant-killing cup runs. Those after can dream of possible glories ahead. What of those who endured the ups and down of the era of Antonio Calderon and Claude Anelka?
David Speedie’s arrival at Liverpool was marked by a flurry of crucial goals in big games. Then Kenny Dalglish quit, Graeme Souness took over and he was very quickly on his way out.
Can social media, online engagement and the enthusiasm for simulation games among younger generations carry Edusport, Scotland’s newest senior football club, from the fifth tier to the Scottish Premiership? Chris Ewing believes so.
Like most amateur clubs they train twice a week, they’ve got their sights set on promotion and they’re always on the lookout for new players. But United Glasgow have other ambitions too.
Celtic's manager and fans are understandably excited about Charly Musonda's potential onfield impact. However, there are wider issues to the young Belgian star’s 18-month loan deal, with potentially significant long-term implications.
It has hosted almost every sport possible over its 50-year lifespan, as well as Meadowbank Thistle, Edinburgh City, Stanley Matthews and Ferenc Puskas. Not to mention a personal toilet for the Queen. Farewell to Edinburgh’s Brutalist stadium.
Words and photographs by Alan McCredie
