I’m not quite sure how well Strike A Pose has been curated but Football and Fashion have long gone hand in hand.  So much has been said of Casuals, its history and developments, it’s subsequent changes.  I wonder if this show at the National Football Museum is any good?  Those of you who have read the last issue of LAW magazine will be familiar with a South East Londoner named Mark Baxter otherwise known as Mumper. His Twitter feed makes me presume he had a hand in the exhibition.  If so that’s a good thing.

Strike A Pose is on until the 27th of August at The National Football Museum in Manchester. 

Football is like a religion in Colombia. Following my trip to South America, I’ve returned to one of my favourite documentaries of ESPN’s 30 to 30 series – The Two Escobars. Watch it in full below, essential for any fan of football, a curiosity of the criminal underworld and a penchant for good television. The Two Escobars explores the intersection between the rise of Colombian football and Pabolo Escobar’s rise to power and the quick demise of both following the 94 World Cup and the murder of star player Andres Escobar.

A couple of weeks ago we were invited out to Philadelphia with adidas to witness the launch of their new Smart Soccer technology. adidas have been busy developing this technology for the last 5 years in a secret bunker which resembles the workshop Q worked out of in James Bond. We had the pleasure of a guided tour around this space and walked through the creation process. Picture super super intelligent scientists from around the globe trying to simplify algorithms to a bunch of media. We were all left amazed at the what we saw and heard.

Smart Soccer is a device which sits in the back of a football players shirt, the device can track all the stats needed to fully understand the performance of a player. Not just his speed and heart rate but also his positioning and movement through GPS, his distance covered and recovery rate. This is all done in real time, the coaching staff have ipads in their hands while they watch the game from the sidelines and they can track the stats of each player directly.

adidas are kit sponsors for the MLS so each team in that league will be using this technology this upcoming season. Chelsea is also an adidas sponsored team so the game we were flown out to witness was between an MLS all star team including Beckham and Henry against the European Champions Chelsea. The MLS put on a real show like only the americans know how, the stadium was PPL Park with the Delaware river in the background. The game ended 2-1 to MLS with a very average performance from Chelsea.

The potential of this Smart Soccer is unbelievable and I’ll be keen to see how it’s taken on by teams in Europe very soon no doubt.

Photos by Will Coutts.

Last Saturday saw the second Boiler Room Fives football tournament take place at Hackney Downs. BNTL got invited down to kick some ball but it was peak season for us man as we didn’t make it past the group stages. A goal got wrongly disallowed and the rest is history. Either way it was a good day with good vibes and beer flowing.

Shouts out Present for winning and to all the other teams and players. Big up to Umbro and the Boiler Room guys for making it happen!

Photos:









Obviously there was pitch invasions

At the beginning of last week, we had a particularly difficult challenge of deciding who would be crowned the UK winner of Nike’s Football documentation competition, The Chance.  As official media partners to the project we sat down with Nike and Neil Bedford for over three hours discussing the finer details of all of the submissions.  Each of us had our own ideas on what to look out for but what was unanimous across the panel was a desire to find a new talent, who not only captured the footballing elements but managed to tell a story through the unique perspective of the footballer they were paired with.

All of the participants, Bafic, James, Ollie, Tatyana, Mollie and Akwasi approached the competition in their own way with great results.  Working in tough, competitive and often pressurised circumstances they truly began to understand the challenges pertaining a professional photographer. Charged with the tasks to build relationships, get the most out of a subject matter and also at times become a “fly on the wall” they all relished the opportunity.

Delivering back a broad range of fantastic work, from powerful stills to emotional videos we began to deliberate on who would be going to Barcelona to compete on the world stage.  We looked for something unique, that not only showed exceptional quality but would also be capable of standing out as a piece of work that is not only British in aesthetic but also very different from the other entrants to be judged by Spike Lee.

Having discussed at length each of the submissions, lots of work stood out for its ability to convey the emotion of the competition, the strain on the footballer and it’s quality as a piece of branded material that fits with Nike.  Taking all of these points into consideration it was with great difficulty that we came to a decision, Mollie Mills is our UK winner of The Chance.

Mollie’s video takes the footballers journey, his story and crafts it into a superb scripted narration that makes the hairs stand on end.  A wonderful use of natural light, sound execution of the highest level, Mollie’s video looks and feels truly unique.   Her personal approach brings together the natural elements of everyday life, that are intrinsically beautiful.  Her intimate portrayal of the footballer Andrew Whorms is truly remarkable.

Stay tuned as Mollie will be documenting her trip to Barcelona here on BNTL.  A massive thank you to all at Nike and the participating Reporters who all made this a great project to be a part of.  For the latest on Nike’s The Chance head HERE

As we continue to spotlight The Reporters who have been hard at work curating their portfolios, which were presented to us this week, we now can showcase the outcome of what has been an exciting but difficult challenge. The announcement of which UK reporter will be entered into The Chance global finals to be judged by Spike Lee in Barcelona will be made tomorrow. But First take a look at a selection of photographs by James and two videos by Mollie and Akwasi respectively.

James Clothier

To learn more about James you can check out our profile piece with him HERE

Mollie Mills

To learn more about Mollie you can check out our profile piece with her HERE

Akwasi

To learn more about Akwasi you can check out our profile piece with him HERE

The Reporters have been hard at work curating their portfolios to showcase what has been an exciting but difficult challenge. We now have the pleasure of showcasing each Reporter’s work before we announce who will be entered into The Chance global finals. First up is a selection of photographs by Ollie, a video by Tatyana and photographs by Bafic.

Ollie

To learn more about Ollie you can check out our profile piece with him HERE.

Tatyana

To learn more about Tatyana you can check out our profile piece with her HERE.

Bafic

To learn more about Bafic you can check out our profile piece with him HERE.

Tatyana makes up the six reporters taking part in Nike’s football documentation competition, The Chance, we caught up with her to find out what being involved in The Chance means to her.

As we continue to catch up with the reporters for Nike’s football documentation competition, The Chance, we sat down with Mollie and discussed how she has found the campaign and what’s been exciting about the project.