Non-league life through a lens, the Eastbourne Town way

Ball at feet: one of the pictures from Tom Connolly's book

A photography book about non-league football in Sussex will go on sale next month.

Fair Game is Tom Connolly’s record of the game having spent the past two years watching Eastbourne Town.

The book is a photographic journey into grassroots football that unearthed something bigger than sport.

The timing of it is apt with people who love football questioning the motives and actions of those running the professional game.

Connolly said: “I got a brilliant email from one fan who said ‘It’s cheap and cheerful and we’re having more fun than you.’ That sums up how we all feel about grassroots football.”

But the book is about more than the game. It’s about people who care about their clubs and their communities.

The award-winning Sussex-based photographer, Michael Donald, whose 2018 book Goal! was shortlisted for the Sports Book of the Year, added: “The world is moving, through choice and circumstance, away from big corporate to the ‘local’ and this is perfect.

One man and his dog watch the football - another image from the book

“Going local does not mean your world is shrinking. It’s the opposite. And this book is testament to that.”

Twenty per cent of the profits from the book will go to the JPK Supported

Living Centre, providing opportunities for people with learning disabilities in Eastbourne and the surrounding areas.

Connolly said: “Some brilliant people have talked to me for this book. I owe everyone at Eastbourne Town and all the clubs across Sussex I turned up at.”

To pre-order your copy, visit www.connolly.photos