A Topical Times for These Times: A Book of Liverpool Football

This longitudinal research study has been ongoing since the 1980’s, with the latest photographs included in the book made in 2012, in order to capture a generational view of football culture and economic shifts. This new publication shows the cohesive qualities of football culture, specifically in Liverpool. The body of photographic work produced is singular in its sustained engagement with a region and builds links between the social, demographic and economic factors prevalent in the working-class districts in which the sport prevails. From amateur games teams in district park leagues, to the weekly rituals of professional match days at Liverpool and Everton, Grant has photographed the sport - and, more particularly, the city’s relationship with it. Rarely going inside the stadia, he photographed the streets and pitch sides as supporters engage with and navigate the city over decades. Through regular return, the shifting nature of lifestyle and topography in the working-class districts are foregrounded. With football a central thread in the working and social lives, this publication relates a changing economic landscape of Liverpool, eschewing the protocols of documentary narrative by working with sustained immersion. Whilst referencing the historical yearbooks once so prevalent, it considers the vernacular, street culture and social structures implicit in the region. It foregrounds networks of trust and support particular to men in the city. Published for the first time in 2016, it has featured in national publications and at international keynote exhibitions about Sport and the Urban experience. The book comprises 170 Photographs. 7 were previously published in Grant, K. 2002 The Close Season. (These are the photographs on pages 17, 29, 81, 113, 115, 131, 143). All other 163 photographs are published for the first time.