Luton Town v Oxford United
February 28, 1988
Photograph by Frank Baron ©The Guardian
Published in When Saturday Comes 222, August 2005

In 1966 Frank Baron was a darkroom boy at the news photo agency Keystone. He recalls that many photographers hated covering football and complained about being trapped at the wrong end for key action. Baron, a keen fan, could think of nothing he’d like to do more and was determined to pursue it with rigour. Rather than curse his luck he honed a more involved style of photography, moving around and using his knowledge of sport to anticipate events.

In the 1970s he set up Sporting Pictures, one of the first sports-led agencies, who sought both visceral imagery and sporting key moments. “We were after an astonishing incident, a talking point, but we also wanted strong artistic photography,” he recalls. By the 1980s he freelanced for the papers, working for the Guardian when this picture was taken at Kenilworth Road.

Luton’s tight ground and the plastic pitch offered rich pickings. “There was lots of excitement, high bounces, collisions and balls flying at 100 mph.” This moment of excitement, Brian Stein’s goal in the League Cup semi-final second leg, helped send Luton to the 1988 final, where they beat Arsenal. According to most Luton fans, this was their greatest season. They were also losing finalists in the Simod Cup, FA Cup semi-finalists and, counting the Mercantile Credit League Centenary tournament, made three visits to Wembley in the season.

But it was an odd time: the plastic pitch, away-fan ban and membership-card scheme meant Luton were disliked not just by Kenny Dalglish, who moaned memorably after Liverpool were beaten 3-0 in a League Cup replay in 1986-87. It wasn’t just visitors who were unhappy: when local legend Mick Harford was sold in 1990, one reason given was that the plastic was doing his ankles in. It was downhill from there. The plastic pitch was banned in 1991 and a year later, thanks to the start of the Premiership, Luton were one of three teams relegated from Division One to Division One.

Frank Baron has not been back much since and now rarely covers football. The restrictions on freelancers’ access and movement have made it harder and harder to be inventive. “How can you create anything when you can’t move?” he shrugs. Mick Harford’s ankles know the feeling.

Doug Cheeseman and Neil Rose
Football Photography Writing

See more of Frank Baron’s work