Grimbarians

Words: Dan Clarke

Images: Dan Clarke

There are few places in football that feel quite like Blundell Park.

Grimsby Town Football Club is a club that almost everyone has heard of. More often than not, when you speak to them, they have been there too.

Stood on the terraces. Sat in the stands. 

It is a place with history in its walls.

Blundell Park is a special ground. A little weathered, a little stubborn, and still home to one of the few remaining wooden stands in professional English football.

There has been talk for decades about a new stadium, but for me there is something about the old place that is hard to replace.

The character, textures and imperfections. The sense that thousands upon thousands of lives have passed through its turnstiles.

That is what interests me.

I am relatively new to photographing football. My background is in fashion and portraiture, so I naturally find myself looking beyond the action on the pitch. I want to photograph the people.

Football is full of them.

The supporters who have spent their lives following the Mariners through promotions, relegations, glory, disappointment and everything in between.

People who have travelled miles for a midweek away game or simply turned up week after week because this is what they do.

There is passion there, but there is heartache too.

When I photograph a fan, I am trying to capture a little piece of their story. Sometimes I have only a few seconds with them. A quick conversation. A smile. A prediction for the score. A question about how long they have been coming.

"Sixty years."

"My dad brought me here when I was a kid."

"It's my son's first game."

Those little moments are what I find fascinating. They are brief glimpses into people's lives, but together they form the bigger story of a football club.

Because a club isn't just the eleven players on the pitch.

It is the people behind the scenes, the volunteers, stewards, grounds staff, people working in the club shop. And, of course, the supporters who give the club its voice.

Over the last couple of years, I have also had the opportunity to work directly with the club on some of their photography, including shooting kit releases.

It has been a real privilege to help introduce those shirts to the supporters and capture something that will become part of the club's visual history.

Through my own project, Grimbarians, I worked with the club to celebrate some of the people who don't always get the spotlight. A series of portraits recognising the unsung heroes of GTFC and the contribution they make to the club and its community.

That project can be found here: https://www.grimbarians.com/gtfc-and-grimbarians

My approach to football photography is still developing, but the direction feels clear.

I want to watch what happens on the pitch, but document what happens around it.

The people who make a football club what it is.

Soon, I'll take the camera beyond Blundell Park and explore other clubs, other grounds and other communities. Every stadium has its own identity, and every club has its own people.

I'm interested in finding them.

Dan is on Instagram: @danclarke