England Fans In Russia - 2018
‘England fans in Russia’ is a book and exhibition which follows the England fans through Russia during 2018s World Cup, where the England football performed surprisingly well. In the run up to the tournament there was nationwide speculation that there travelling England fans would be met with violence from Russian hooligans however this was not the case. We were met with a great welcome and hospitality.
The UK is going through uncertain times and is seemingly divided forever due to Brexit’s pantomime progress. However for a few weeks in the summer of 2018, most of England’s population was momentarily united by a national cause. In Russia, English people of all backgrounds were in it together supporting their country and proving that football can heal some of the divisions between communities in the UK. ‘England Fans In Russia’ celebrates this diversity amongst the England support and aims to inspire people of all of England’s communities to come out to football.
An exhibition of the work was commissioned by Fans For Diversity, a campaign run by The Football Supporters Federation and Kick It Out and took place at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation in London in December. In May the exhibition will move to the National Football Museum in Manchester.
Alongside the exhibition a book was produced through a successful kickstarter campaign which you can see here. Thanks again to all those who supported. I have small amount of books left and I am also doing prints so please get in contact via my email sd02davidshaw@hotmail.com or visit my shop here.