Go to the football

Words: Euan McKechnie

Images: Euan McKechnie

When I was in primary school, I couldn’t have been less interested in football. My Dad has had a season ticket at Ibrox since long before I was born and would often ask me about going to watch a game, or sitting and watching an Old Firm or cup tie on the telly.

“Why would I want to watch a group of guys running about kicking a ball.”

It turns out all it took was for the ball to be at my feet. At some point towards the end of my time at primary school, one of my mates brought a ball in with them and that was our breaks sorted that day. I don’t think I ever played tig or bulldog again.

I quickly joined my school team and got a ball and boots and that was me. The ball came everywhere with me and, when I wasn’t running about a pitch, I was (in the very early days of the internet) obsessing over what is now probably viewed as iconic football nostalgia.

Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Olympiastadion. Berlin.

The Nike adverts of the early 2000’s. The ‘Ole’ ad where Brazil and Portugal end up taking each other on in the tunnel and concourse before things spilled on to the pitch, the ‘home game’ ad that saw Thierry Henry dribbling around imagined opposition in his house before being confronted by the United squad in his living room and the masterpiece that was ‘The Cage’. 

This changed things, it wasn’t just a game that I liked playing with my friends, it had become more. It was a culture and lifestyle that consumed me.

An Henry poster on my wall and Torres screensaver on my computer, not because I knew anything about him as a player or had an affinity for Atletico Madrid, it was a free download on the Nike website where I would spend hours designing personalised boots that I would never get anywhere near buying.

I would say that I am as obsessed with football now as I was then. Only now it’s not the boots that players have on their feet or the products that they endorse that draw me in - I do still have a soft spot for old Renault Clios after Henry’s va va voom ads though.

Now the fascinating thing for me is travelling to matches and experiencing the traditions and cultures that make up match day experiences in different cities.

Football being a game that is loved in every corner of the world is what makes it so special and the obsessive nature with which people across the world ‘watch guys running about kicking a ball’ is what draws me in more and more.

Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Ibrox Stadium. Glasgow.

Any time I am planning travel I am checking fixtures to see if I can manage a match. I have dragged my wife to games in Reykjavik and Malaga when on holiday, I have squeezed a Hertha Berlin match into the itinerary of my Dad’s 60th birthday trip and I made the pilgrimage to the San Siro in Milan with my cousin citing the ‘they’re planning on flattening it’ rumour that seems to have been around longer than it hasn’t.

While these places could not be more varied, there is something about the buzz on a match day, even when you have no grasp of the language surrounding you, that despite being totally unique is still very familiar.

Mates sitting in pubs wearing their team colours, kids on parents shoulders weaving through crowds and groups chatting anxiously and excitedly getting on and off buses and trains.

Whether it’s a Serie A match in the San Siro, a bottom of the table clash in the Bundesliga or a third round Scottish cup tie in Pollok in Glasgow’s South Side, you know what the people around you are talking about and what emotions they are feeling.

If you are somewhere new and want to get a feel for local life, don’t turn to YouTube or travel blogs and look for ‘hidden gems’ or ‘local favourites’.

Go to the football.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Stadio Giuseppe Meazza/ San Siro.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Newlandsfield Park. Pollok.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Estadio La Rosaleda. Málaga.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Estadio La Rosaleda. Málaga.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Newlandsfield Park. Pollok.

©Euan McKechnie/ Terrace Edition. Merkur Spiel-Arena. Düsseldorf.

You can find Euan on Instagram: @35mmck.euan