David J Shaw

Photographer Journalist

Oldham, UK, 2014-16

Huddled in the cold January pissing rain trying to protect my camera gear, an Oldham shot sores through the Fleetwood defence to find its way in the goal. Pandemonium in the away end as Latics fans soak up a Oldham two-nil away victory after going without a win for a couple months. As the Oldham players ran to the rickety away end of Fleetwood's Highbury stadium, I sprinted behind the goal to get involved with the celebrations and by doing so nearly missed my photo.

I had been working on the project, which has now been published in the book - 'Oh When The Blues' for a few months and this day out in Fleetwood cemented the reason why I continued the project long term. Here where 1285 Oldham fans, travelling further north to Blackpool to watch their team play despite the lengthy time without a win, home or away. They sang and bounced throughout the game and the abysmal weather and for me, represented what football fandom is about.

I had decided to photograph this project, originally thinking it would be much smaller, after attending a home game against Scunthorpe. Oldham won, however this was not what I found myself watching. Lads running around with their shirts off, a loud ultras support group and old men grumbling at the directors box which is essentially in with fans had me thinking that there were good photos to be had here. A fortnight later I was stood with my camera next to Oldham's Athleticos Ultras group inside Boundary Park.

Not being an Oldham fan, but Charlton instead, I was at first slightly nervous that people wouldn't be up for my plans of photographing them rather than the football but after the first few visits I felt completely at ease. People seemed to get the project and liked the pictures. Keith Head, who has become one of the main protagonists in all my projects in Oldham, came to have a chat with me on my first visit. A few days later I was in his living room sipping tea and talking about his experiences as an Oldham fan. All of the Latics community were open with me in this way.

Oldhamers are a proud bunch. Despite a continuation of struggles on and off the pitch they stick by their team and have an exceptionally strong away support. Oldham's hey-day was the much talked about 'glory years' in the early 90s, where they reached the semi-finals of the FA cup twice and was one of the founding teams of the Premier League. Outside of football, people from Oldham are knowledgable about the place. A post-industrial town that is full of old mills and was once considered the cotton spinning capital of the world. Everyone has stories of their areas. Whether it be relatives who worked in the mills, or an old mining pit or the being part of the construction of Lancaster Bombers in Oldham during WW2 - Oldham has a rich and colourful history. However, much the same as the club Oldham declined after the fall of industry in the town. Many people lost their jobs and there is still a poor local economy. In many areas of Oldham people live below the poverty line and it was named in 2016 as Britain's most deprived town. However there is still strong identity and culture in Oldham and people are proud of where they are from, the history behind it and it is a very close community. The spirit of its population certainly finds it way into the stands of Boundary Park, or vice versa.

"Oh When The Blues" - Book Now Available

Email - sd02davidshaw@hotmail.com - to purchase.

£21.50 with UK postage.

The book is now available for purchase. It is 112 pages, soft-back 26x21 cm with over 100 full colour images professionally printed and bound at ex why zed printing. An original print run of 200 was printed.

The book costs only £18 OR £21.50 with UK postage. You can send the payment via paypal to sd02davidshaw@hotmail.com or email me on that address to arrange another payment.

 

Eagles and Owls, Berlin, 2015

Upon my arrival in Berlin I was told by the football fans I was travelling with to 'take all the incriminating photos you like'. As a photojournalist, this was music to my ears. I entered the bar in East Berlin, which was red-let (the colours of Eintracht Frankfurt) and the designated place for visiting Eintracht Frankfurt and Oldham Athletic fans to meet. I wrestled my way through hoards of reunited old friends to grab myself the first, but nowhere near my last, beer of the weekend.

I was in Berlin on invitation to document the decades old friendship between a group of fans from both teams. The 'Eagles and Owls' appropriately named because of both team's insignia, have been visiting each other's grounds in Frankfurt and Oldham for over thirty years.

On this occasion it was Frankfurt away against Hertha BSC at the colossal Olympic Stadium. A tame end-of-season game in the rain with nothing to play for resulted in a boring 0-0 draw, however this did not effect the spirits of the visiting fans. The (Oldham fans took great advantage of Germany's more liberal spectating rules with beer and cigs' consumed freely in the stadium, which is now prohibited in the UK. Frankfurt's Ultras gave its full firework and smoke show, alongside a carefully choreographed flag wielding chorus. Again, an event that would of created an official enquiry had it taken place in the UK.

As I sat in a bar supping point and taking the occasional out-of-focus picture a confused commotion took place to the sound of breaking glass. No one seemed to know what was happening until a bar stool flew across the room, the pub was under attack. Minutes later everyone was outside trying to piece together exactly what had taken place. A small group of Berlin based hooligans had attacked us due to the fixture, momentarily the happy spirit of the event was killed. I picked up on a sense of disappointment from the group that I, as a journalist, had witnesses such an event. However the combined stunned reaction and quick return to the joyous party summed up why I had come on the trip in the first place. These old pals were unknowingly leading the way int the new progressive global football community. The violent mentality of particularly stereotypical English football fans when abroad was not on show here, and instead a firm friendship based upon a common interest in the game was enjoyed.