Reality Football - Wembley Stadium
Alan Powdrill in his series Reality Football wanted to capture the love that all footballers have for the game, it is a commentary on those you see in the park at the weekend, the ones in the pub in the afternoon, the ones who simply live for football. Powdrill set out the project as a “statement of contrast between the over-exposed and over-paid professional game and the very under-exposed, under-funded amateur game”. He wanted to capture the unsung heroes from the small teams across the UK. “The project portrays players who all have serious amateur passion for the beautiful game. In today’s economic climate it reminds us that, for ninety minutes, anyone can achieve their own personal moment of glory for love…not money.”Tell us about how this series came about. I live about half a mile from Hackney Marshes, one of the largest collections of public football pitches in Europe. I’ve always noticed the amazing characters down there so started taking some portraits of the players before and after the games. This developed and so I began visiting other well-known football cities around the UK like Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.How did the footballers react when you asked to take their photo? Do you have any funny anecdotes you can share? All the players I approached were really happy to have their portraits taken, almost flattered, as though the ‘media’ had come to shine the spotlight on them. It was really interesting to see the different reactions and attitudes in each city. This project was shot and finished some years ago. It was exhibited in London where some people from the FA saw it and eventually exhibited it at Wembley Stadium for a season. I got a few free tickets as a result and took a few of the London players there (from Surreal Madrid who play on Hackney Marshes) The irony of going from Hackney Marshes to the walls of Wembley Stadium was brilliant.
What do you want the audience to take away from the series? I would hope that people would see this project being more than just about football and equally a study of social interest and a comment on the way modern life becomes more and more about big business and less about the ordinary person on the street (or local park).Full Interview