On an average weekend, The Guardian receives around 12,000 photographs from Premier League matches via its staff, agency and contributor photographers. That’s almost half a million images per season. Some capture extraordinary joy and despair; some bear witness to defining moments in the title race; some owe greatly to the creativity of the men and women behind the lenses; and some, like this first one from August, feature the rare but always amusing sight of a referee nearly getting thwacked by a ball.
August
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Click on the images to see full captions and credits. All pictures are in chronological order.
September
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The most nauseating picture of the season came at Wembley in September when Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen inadvertently gouged the eye of Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino. As picture editors, we can become inured to violence and physical injury on the picture wires, but there was something particularly wince-inducing about this shot. Luckily, the Brazilian escaped without serious injury and went on to celebrate his late winner against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group stage a few days later with an eye-patch celebration. Elsewhere, Sir Alex Ferguson was given a standing ovation at Old Trafford following his return to the club after emergency brain surgery in May. United finished the month in 10th place with 10 points from their opening seven fixtures – nine points behind the early pace-setters, Manchester City and Liverpool.
Click on the images to see full captions and credits. All pictures are in chronological order.
October
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The first meeting between the league’s top two sides was a tight affair in which Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez was left ashen-faced at the final whistle after missing a last-minute penalty. He rocketed his effort over the bar – his fifth miss in eight spot-kicks. October was also marked by the death of the Leicester City chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, whose helicopter crashed as it departed the King Power Stadium following Leicester’s match with West Ham, killing all five people on board. The floral tributes at the stadium reflected the deep affection felt by Leicester supporters for the man who fuelled their title success in 2016. And undoubtedly my favourite image of the month came at Stamford Bridge where the Manchester United manager, José Mourinho, had to be restrained as he launched himself at a member of Chelsea’s backroom staff following a raucous goal celebration. It’s not so much Mourinho’s aggression that I like; rather, it’s the panic-stricken guy in the foreground on the radio. I have no idea who he is or what he’s saying but in my mind he’s radioing for back-up.
November
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November saw Tottenham spank Chelsea at Wembley and Manchester City claim victory in the first Manchester derby of the season. It also saw a miracle under the floodlights at the John Smith’s Stadium where Huddersfield beat Fulham to claim their first win and first home goal of the season. Yet the best image shot that day is, in my opinion, the one below – the silhouette of a solitary man, cigarette in hand, wandering before the glow of a distant floodlight. The old-school bank of floodlights seems to imbue the shot with nostalgia – it reminds me of traipsing home from winter fixtures in my youth.
December
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December was a month stained by abuse. First, a banana was thrown onto the pitch by a Tottenham fan after Arsenal’s Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had scored against Spurs in the north London derby. Then, later that same week, Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was subjected to a torrent of insults by a section of Chelsea fans after winning a corner. Sterling, to his credit, reacted nonchalantly, and the incident ignited much-needed debate about how to curb abusive behaviour and racism within football. The best action photos of the month came at Anfield amid the pandemonium of Liverpool’s last-gasp win over Everton. The substitute Divock Origi scored in the 96th minute after Jordan Pickford’s error, and Liverpool’s relief was perfectly distilled in the shot below (featuring Virgil Van Dijk) with their sprawling, swirling mess of bodies and arms creating a dynamic image. Normally you’d want to see clean air around a subject to make them stand out, but not in this instance.
January
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Eleven millimetres proved decisive when the top two teams met for the second time in the season. John Stones’s desperate clearance off of the line against Liverpool helped Manchester City to become the first and only team to defeat Jürgen Klopp’s men all season. Elsewhere, the game of the month – if not the game of the season – came at Molineux where Diogo Jota’s 93rd minute strike gave Wolves a pulsating 4-3 victory over Leicester. The image of delirious Wolves fans is layered with great facial expressions and is neatly juxtaposed with the image of a crestfallen Leicester manager Claude Puel, head in hands; the two extremes encapsulate the universal agonies and ecstasies of football.
February
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I’m not sure if the shot looking down on the tattooed Manchester City fan was set up or happenstance (presumably the former); either way it’s a cracker. City won their match with Arsenal 3-1 that day thanks to a Sergio Agüero hat-trick – his 14th for the club. Yet City still trailed Liverpool by two points having played a game more. By the end of the month, the gap was down to one point after both teams had played 28 games. Also worth a mention is the shot of Newcastle United’s Miguel Almirón being royally upended by Huddersfield’s Tommy Smith. Needless to say Smith got a red card.
March
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With Huddersfield and Fulham cut adrift long before Spring, Cardiff were the only team in the bottom three with any hope of staying up come March. Predictably, Neil Warnock flipped when Chelsea were wrongly awarded a late goal, despite it being clearly offside, as the Blues came from behind to beat the Bluebirds 2-1. Warnock stormed onto the pitch at the final whistle and stared at the officials before aiming his wrath at poor David Luiz. Forget the goals, Warnock going ballistic was the defining frame that day. Another good image is the one of Everton fans showing their appreciation, so to speak, for Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
April
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Many months overdue and with their brief title hopes having already evaporated, Tottenham finally exited Wembley and moved into their new home. And what a home. Costing £1 billion and designed by Christopher Lee, the 62,062-seater stadium was lit up by pre-match pyrotechnics for its first Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace. Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min became the first player to score there as he guided the Lilywhites to a winning start on home soil, but the back pages obviously lead with the immense spectacle which preceded it.
May
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Vincent Kompany’s unexpected howitzer against Leicester was a pivotal goal in the title race. Yet the strike was so unexpected that almost no photographers were ready for it. To be fair to them, nor were Leicester’s defenders. Kompany hadn’t hit the target from outside the box since 2013 and even his manager and teammates were begging him not to try. The resulting image, seen from the opposite end of the pitch, captures the net bulging. Of course, we would sooner have received better images of the strike itself, but somehow this one of the aftermath – of the moment when City effectively snatched the title – feels quite apt. On the final day of the season, Liverpool fans had 21 minutes of hope as the scores tipped in their favour once more. But ultimately it was Pep Guardiola, not Klopp, who was pictured being thrown into the air in celebration as his side retained the Premier League.
