thesebiggames,whetherthat’s
teamspreparingaheadofkick-off,
peoplein thecrowd,oreverybody
celebratinga winafterthegame.
It’sanotherwaytoconnectsports
fanswiththeirfavouriteteams
andplayers.”FanBased
Withover1.1millionfansattending
thevariousmatchesofthe 2019
Women’sWorldCupandsteadily
growingsupportin manycountries
aroundtheworld,includingthe
UK,AustraliaandUSA(whereit
challengesthemen’sgamefor
popularity),women’ssoccerhas
comea longwayoverthelast
fewyears.JavierGarciabelieves
improvingstandardsofskilland
athleticismwhilestillmaintaining
directcontactwiththefanbase
arekeyelementsbehindthis.
“It’sgreattoseewomen’s
sportingeventsbecomingmore
andmorepopular.Fivetotenyears
agoin theUK,forexample,the
women’sgamewaswaybehind
whatwashappeningin theUSA.
Therewasproportionallyless
participationanda systemthatwas
notreallydesignedtogrowthe
professionalgameeffectively.In
thelastcoupleofyearsthough,the
UKdomesticgamehasimproved
dramatically,thanksin partto
morefinancialcommitment...for
instance,BarclaysBankrecently
announceda majorsponsorship
deal...anda greaterrecognitionof
thevalueofthegamefromtheFA
andthePremierLeagueclubs,as
wellasbroadcastersseeingvalue
in showingmatcheslive.
“Ithascomeat a perfecttime,
asmen’ssoccerat thetoplevelis
in dangerofpricingouttraditional
fans,butthewomen’sgameis
beingseenasa veryeffectiveway
tore-engagelostsupportersas
wellasbuildinga fan-basewitha
youngergeneration.I lovehowat
thetoplevelofthedomesticgame
in theUK,theWSL[Women’s
SuperLeague]seestopstars
happytoengagewithfansand
takeselfies,andsoon,straight
aftermatches.Incomparison,
themen’sgameat thetopis
inaccessibletofansin this
mostdirectofmanners.My
daughtershaveengagedwith
thewomen’sgameprecisely
becausetheyfeelthattheycan
getclosetothestars.
“Theothermajorchangeis that
thewomen’sgamehasimproved
in termsoftacticsandfitness–
manyofthesewomenarenow“When you look
around any venue
inside and out,
you see they’re
plastered with
sports images.
Photography is
as valid as ever,
in my mind.”
full-time professional athletes.
Whereas before, the fitness and
skill levels were very variable.
Adopting more girls’ football in
schools and pushing talent through
to the men’s clubs has combined
to improve the whole game.”Late Bloomer
Javier Garcia first worked in
television before starting to shoot
local soccer matches in his spare
time. One thing led to another,
with his own photo agency
eventually becoming part of the
Shutterstock stable.
“Photography has always
been a passion of mine, but
professionally I’d say I was a late
bloomer. The passion was ignited
in 1990 when, in one of my first
jobs after college – I worked in
television – I ended up working in
Mexico City and happened to meet
an English sports photographer
there who had recently left Allsport
to work for himself. I was in awe of
the material he and his colleagues
produced, and I never thought I
would ever end up shooting these
types of events myself.
“When I returned to England
the bug never left me and I started
working for a local newspaper for
nothing, mainly covering one of my
local football teams (Fulham FC),
honing my technique and making
plenty of mistakes. I would work
there part-time, during evenings
and at weekends while still
working at the BBC. I took a punt
while flying high(ish) in television,
left a well-paid job and took the
plunge in 1999 to try my luck as
a freelancer. I soon realised that
being ‘poorer but richer’ was the
way to go – I loved it, and thought
I was quite good at it.
“After the turn of the
millennium, I scaled up andIN PRACTICE