The Footballing Wanderer

My Football Photographic Journey

This article was written by a guest writer and football photographer, Harry Taylor.

I’ve always been a practical person. The academic landscape never appealed to me. Exploring, making, and seeing are something I take way more satisfaction in than facts and figures. Thankfully, my interest in art led the way for me to study photography at college in 2015. This was a game changer.

It was in 2017 when I had to choose a theme for my final major project, and my tutors and I heavily invested in the idea of my passion for football and how you view it from your experiences. This was to be a project on ‘non league football’ where I documented my journey to non league clubs such as FC United of Manchester and Bradford Park Avenue. Being a wide eyed 18 year old, I just became hugely enthralled in travelling to new grounds, watching games and capturing moments that I felt could stand out from the rest. Not your typical action shots that you see in every magazine up and down the country. The fascination for me was subjects like the people, the architecture, and the overall football landscape that’s not always depicted in photography. Football photography is an art, but we don’t always see it.

The flattened perspective of the wooden fence and the floodlights at Bradford Park Avenue. Only just noticed the beauty in the pattern whilst leaving the ground. Taken in March 2017 in their 0-1 home defeat to Gloucester City in the National League North.

Life doing football photography is just fun. There’s no easier way to say it. If you have a deep interest in the subject, it makes the work way more enjoyable. I’m a groundhopper, so I enjoy football at all professional and semi-professional levels. From Mansfield Town to Workington. Celtic to Malmö. The enthusiasm remains the same. I’m currently on ground 112, but I’ve still got loads to see and do. My main objective is to try and get to more Scottish games because their fans are more passionate, the grounds have more character, and it’s a part of the world that deserves more credit than it gets. The beauty isn’t always the beautiful. It’s finding the hidden gems and creating something magical.

Getting amongst it at Celtic Park. Their clash vs Young Boys brought an apocalyptic atmosphere, which is arguably the best I’ve been to. Celtic won 1-0. This ground lives up to the hype. The noise, the atmosphere, the tifos, flares. They just help make the photograph.

One of the reasons I love documenting different football grounds is that each one can have its own unique characteristics, whether that be the architecture, the old crumbling terrace stand, or the backdrops that surround the stadium. The more unique, the better.

For me, the grounds that stick in my mind would be Celtic, Workington A.F.C, Airbus UK Broughton and Mossley. These are some of my personal favourites, but I could name a few more that are worth the visit.

The venture across the Welsh border. On December 14th 2025, I made my way to my first ever game in the Welsh pyramid. Airbus UK Broughton beat Caersws 2-0 in the Welsh Cup. I really enjoyed this place. A ground next to a runway. Just sums up these places. I took this shot because I’m forever a lover of an industrial landscape overlooking the match. It gives you a bit of an understanding of the area. This epitomises the traditional football landscape.

So why should football photography be taken seriously? It’s a criminally underrated art form that not many artists and photographers look at. To counter this, I do like the fact that this genre is hidden under the radar, as it’s something that I weirdly can disclose without it being completely overhyped. The photographers that got me into this style include Stuart Roy Clarke, Colin McPherson and Hans Van Der Meer. Absolutely phenomenal photographers who understand the football subject. That, for me, sums up the beauty of football.

Workington AFC’s final game at the current Borough Park before restoration. One of the reasons I documented this ground is because I was heavily persuaded by many people to visit before it’s changed forever. Everything about this place gives me a feeling of personal belonging. Workington beat Ashton United 5-1 to end the last game of the season on a high. Taken on 26th April 2025.

If you want to see more of my football photography and also other works that I’ve done, please feel free to follow my Instagram and Facebook pages.