Fever Pitch: World Cup 2006
I took part in a project to show in pictures how a spectrum of different cultural communities in London passionately supported their national teams during the 2006 Football World Cup. The tournament was seen on screens in pubs, restaurants, halls, homes and places of work all over the city. There were some unusual venues too, like the impromptu screening in a large tent with bails of straw for seats on a disused garage forecourt off the Goldhawk Road.
The pictures shown here were selected from the twelve venues I covered. One of the locations was the Walkabout Pub on Shepherds Bush Green. It was closed down in 2013, but the building was redeveloped into a block of flats in 2021 with the 1920's facade preserved. In 2006 the Walkabout hosted a big crowd of Australian supporters during the World Cup. I remember it becoming progressively difficult to move around because my feet were sticking to the floor: a lot of beer had been splashed about by the celebrating fans.
