Chelsea 1972-73 Season
Photograph by Bryn Campbell ©Bryn Campbell
Published in When Saturday Comes 231, May 2006

As a freelance picture editor for the Observer, Bryn Campbell also had a passion for his own photography projects. In 1968 he had paid his way to the Mexico City Olympics and in 1972 he suggested to the Photography Gallery in London the idea of following a season at Stamford Bridge. His approach was timely as the then gallery curator, Sue Davies, had very catholic taste. His in-depth approach would take him into rarely seen areas – team talks, training sessions and football’s inner sanctum, the players’ dressing room. He photographed in what he describes as a personal “humanist” style.

But to succeed he needed the trust of the manager. He had met Dave Sexton in the late 1960s and the rapport they enjoyed ensured him the co-operation of the club, though he recalls: “Occasionally I would be given a nod to leave the room when serious words were needed.” That must have been increasingly often, as he had arrived just in time to catch the last whiff of success for Sexton’s celebrated Chelsea side before it disintegrated in bitterness and rancour.

Sexton’s sterner side brought him in to conflict with Chelsea’s more mercurial talents, namely Alan Hudson and Peter Osgood – both pictured here at a team meeting. They appear intent on the boss’s words, but the body language could be read differently. By the end of 1973 they had both fallen out acrimoniously with Sexton and left soon after. Campbell would also observe the autograph hunters, club staff and hangers-on as they mingled. One eccentric onlooker – sporting a bag noting Chelsea’s recent cup achievements – offers a surreal salute to her idols. The players seem to treat the attention as an occupational hazard.

The changing room – in a temporary cabin while the financially catastrophic East Stand was being built – provides a revealing image. Among the shiny brogues, tea cups and soggy towels, Eddie McCreadie removes a shin dressing while comforted by a cigarette. Above is one of Sexton’s motivational slogans, an early stab at sports psychology. On the opposite wall was the ominous “Fatigue makes cowards of us all”. Campbell much admired Sexton, but, put off by the rise of officialdom, has not returned to football in earnest since. The project remains a true one-season wonder.

Doug Cheeseman
Football Photography Writing

See more of Bryn Campbell’s work