Following my request to photograph the Chairman of Nantwich Town, Jon Gold, and club manager Jimmy Quinn I was invited to become the official club photographer. I was delighted to accept this position and have attended every home game at the Weaver Stadium. I have also travelled to several away games and I am loving being involved with the club.

It’s certainly been an historic season. The club reached the 1st round proper of the FA Cup and were drawn away to Milton Keynes Dons at their new stadium. Although the scoreline was pretty harsh (6-0), everyone at the club had a great day out and the financial input from the cup run has made the world of difference to the South Cheshire club!

As a result of my involvement with the club I have been able to produce many portraits of many of the game’s luminaries. John Motson OBE paid a visit to the club and was happy to pose. England and Arsenal legend Ray Parlour was also a visitor to the Weaver Stadium. The Club’s Life President is former Chelsea and England star Frank Blunstone. Frank won the 1st Division title with Chelsea after moving from Crewe. He also went on to represent England. Certainly a legend and a great subject for a portrait! Another legend I photographed at the Weaver this term is former AC Milan and Italy sweeper Franco Baresi. Franco brought a charity XI to the Weaver along with a few other former Italian internationals.

Aside from the football I have been as busy as ever with my music photography. I have been fortunate to photograph at some wonderful events this year. The Crewe Live Festival was back after a year away and Tina and myself undertook to photograph as much of the event as we could. Spread over 12 venues and 4 days with over 150 bands playing it was no easy task! We managed to photograph 100 bands between us and had a great time. The festival was headlined by Funeral For A Friend and I was pleased to do portraits of the entire band as well as a promo shoot before they took to the stage in front of a packed Box!

The Cloud 9 festival near Sandbach was a wonderful one day event. Again Tina and I attended as official photographers and really enjoyed the variety of music on offer. Our good friend Sheena Bratt appeared with Nick Bayes guesting on bass and it made for some great photos. Over on the main stage Ed Sheeran was amazing. I was pleased to meet Ed and do a portrait. Also on the bill was Bez and The Futureheads.

The first ever Transmissions – Live from Jodrell Bank took place this year as well. The event was headlined by The Flaming Lips along with British Sea Power and OK GO!. A phenomenal event which was truly a visual treat. I entered one of my images of Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne into the NME professional photography competition and it finished in the top 20. I certainly hope that the event continues next year -its such a wonderful venue for such an event!

The very next day I headed off to Chester Rocks at the racecourse. They had a fantastic lineup! Tommy Scott (Space), I Am Kloot, Lightning Seeds, Australian Pink Floyd, Feeder, Leftfield and Iggy Pop & The Stooges. A great day in the sun and was amazed at the fantastic performance from Iggy. Came home with a wonderful set of images!

Also on a musical note I was pleased to do a portrait shoot with former Guns ‘n Roses musician Duff McKagan. Duff was on tour with his new band Loaded! We travelled to the Garage in London to do the portrait and capture the live performance. A late night but a music legend!