'Being paid to see the world's biggest sporting events feels ridiculous'
· Yahoo Sports
In his 20-year career as a sports photopgraher, Simon Stacpoole has had moments when he had to remind himself it is a job.
"It's ridicuous at times when you're sitting there with the best seats in the house to some of the biggest sports events in the world, and you're being paid to be there."
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Stacpoole from Nantwich, Cheshire, covers four football matches a week on average, and has taken pictures at four World Cup finals.
His favourite World Cup was Qatar 2022, he said, as seeing Lionel Messi a matter of feet away of him, sat on people's shoulders holding the trophy was a "sight to behold."
The photographer said seeing Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup at Qatar 2022 was a sight to behold [@welloffside/@simonstacpoole]Stacpoole was squashed behind the goal during the scrum for shots of Messi [@welloffside/@simonstacpoole]Stacpoole started studying photography at school as a teenager, and realised he had a "bit of an eye" for a picture.
A degree in the subject followed, and coming from a sporting family, he said combining photography and sport for a job "made total sense."
After two decades in freelancing for an agency, he still gets a buzz to see his images published.
"As a photographer, you want to see your pictures used big and in print."
The photographer said he had always wanted to concentrate on sport [BBC]The most nervous he has ever been in the job was the first Olympics he had been to, London 2012, and the night of the 100m final.
Stacpoole had recently lost his father, was full of pent up emotion and knew he had to nail the shot of Usain Bolt.
"I've got 9.5 seconds to get my act together, I was positioned just around the bend from the finishing line, you just have to wait for him to appear, just out of your blind spot."
"Before you know it, it's over, and fortunately it all worked out."
Stackpoole covers four games a week on average and was at Stoke City in January 2021 when matches were played without fans during Covid [@welloffside/@simonstacpoole]He said there were moments when you needed to "sharpen your elbows a bit" to get the best image at major sporting finals, but photographers respected each other, as they were all in the same boat.
The downsides of the job are spending so much time away from family and missing social events, as well as many hours on the road, he said.
"You could have one of those really bad games where you've had five goals up the wrong end of the pitch, I'm soaking wet, the motorway's closed on the way home."
"The classic combo that leaves you questioning your life choices sometimes."
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