The Hackney Marshes are legendary in football terms. Dubbed the ‘spiritual home of Sunday League Football’, it is where internationally famous footballers such as Bobby Moore, David Beckham and Ian Wright once started out; playing on the very same pitches as the amateur footballers in this new photobook from Hoxton Mini Press.

In 1946, the Hackney and Leyton Sunday League was formed, with hundreds of pitches being built on the foundations of rubble from the Blitz. Seventy years on, the Hackney Marshes now provide over 80 pitches where more than 50 games of football are played each week from September until April, come rain or shine.
Photographer Chris Baker decided to document these weekly matches over three seasons in Sunday Football, his first book. He has managed to capture the drama that unfolds every Sunday down at the Marshes in East London: the passion, the comradery, the arguments, the sweat and tears, the injuries and fights, the cigarettes at half time and the painful struggle of playing with a raging hangover. Baker’s photographs are interspersed with a brilliant selection of quotes from the players and referees – some anecdotes, others overheard from the sidelines:

“My wife doesn’t get it; this is where I come to see my mates.”

“Our old goalkeeper wore glasses but couldn’t wear contacts. This was a bit of a problem as he could only really see a player or the ball when they reached the edge of his area. We conceded a lot of long-range shots that year.”

Chris Baker is a documentary and portrait photographer from London with a long history in the amateur game. After one too many injuries, Baker decided to get on the safe side of the sidelines and begin a two- year documentation of football on the Hackney Marshes, “Sunday Football is my love letter to the game that consumed me for so many years. The book is a visual celebration of the beloved game at amateur level. An ode to those players that turn up late, hungover and discussing last night’s conquest.”