Billy Bremner forever

A word about the work

(REF : PGRI001)
3rd February 2010. Elland Road Stadium in Leeds. Pre-match scene from an FA Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham Hotspur (1-3)
Leeds United, who had been relegated to the bottom rung of English football due to bad management, started making the news again after doing well in the FA Cup. Erik Bielderman (the journalist) and Patrick Gripe (the photographer), for L’Équipe Magazine, went to smell the depths of the league and tell us what purgatory is like for a major English club. Jermaine Defoe had dampened spirits by scoring the 3 Spurs goals, but the fans were there, faithful as ever. A fan in front of the statue of Billy Bremner, the great 70s player and Leeds United icon.

Erik Bielderman’s account, special correspdondent for L’Équipe Magazine.
It was a winter’s evening. Patrick had his grey woolly gloves on. Forehead and eyebrows buried under his ever-present blue beanie. Leeds in the snow in February. The bitter wind sweeping down from the Pennines, stripped hills where no tree has the strength to grow, had frozen his blood. Sharing boiled coffee with the mounted police, his arse sitting in horse box straw, then he was off again. Elland Road drowning under piles of snow. Leeds stuck in the English third division. 37,000 fans enduring winter. Their fervour impresses Patrick. Four hours bumming around this unlikely neighbourhood, his fingertips stuck to the metal on his Nikon. Sipping warm, flat beer with thousands of fans, sweat on sweat, in the club’s home pub, the Old Peacock. A powerful « We are Leeds ! » starts up from Yorkshire diehards. Patrick is blown away, won over.
A last tour of the stadium, and then, a moment of eternity. This teenager bowing down to Billy Bremner’s statue. Patrick in the background. Discreet. Capturing the power of the moment. Before disappearing into the night to search for another image.

Jean-Denis’s choice

Everything I love about English football in one shot. The gesture and look of the young man that shows unwavering love for his club, as well as respect for its elders. He is young, he wasn’t born when Don Revie’s gang, with Billy Bremner at its head, thrilled England and Europe. And yet this image tells a story of both fervour and transmission.