Bradley writes This fella Cristiano Ronaldo never ceases to amaze me, some say he’s too old, can’t run etc, but I’m not sure any of that matters when you are still banging in hat-tricks in big games. Here Ronaldo sends the Old Trafford crowd into raptures as he does his trademark celebration after scoring the first of his treble against Tottenham Hotspur. Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 400mm lens, 1/2,500th sec, f2.8, ISO 2000
I have spent too much of the past four or five years photographing Paul Pogba’s latest hair dye or razored style, so I’m glad he’s finally come round to my way of thinking, just chop it all off. It was a bit of a shock to see a bald Pogba on Saturday and I am not sure what the circle of light is in front of his face. It’s either a light in the stand or a fans’ cameraphone, I had frames without the light but I thought it enhanced the image somehow.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 400mm lens, 1/3,200th sec, f2.8, ISO 2000
A groundsman attends to the pitch before Manchester City’s Champions League second leg against Sporting Lisbon. I think they were testing the smoke bombs situated around the stadium. It was not from the fans and I had not seen this before at the Etihad.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 70-200mm zoom lens (set at 130mm) 1/800th sec, f5.6, ISO 2500
Another new one at the Etihad, before the game the floodlights went out and there was a laser light show. I’m not sure if this is just for Champions League games but as it was going on I was frantically adjusting my exposure as the light was all over the place
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 70-200mm zoom lens (set at 70mm) 1/50th sec, f4.5, ISO 2500
I reckon if Mohamed Salah had kept his eye on the ball and not down my lens he may have controlled this pass. I have done that thing when you move your head to look at a picture to see if the subject is looking right down the lens, and he is, a freak of timing and not deliberate.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 400mm lens, 1/1,250th sec, f2.8, ISO 2000
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This is behind the main stand at Anfield, a stall selling scarves at dusk before Liverpool’s round-of-16 second leg clash with Inter Milan.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 16-35mm zoom lens (set at 16mm) 1/250th sec, f4.5, ISO 4000
Football clubs are finding different ways of showing their support for the people of Ukraine. Here all the window lights of Anfield’s main stand are lit up in yellow and blue, I waited till it was almost dark so I could show the lights at their best.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 16-35mm zoom lens (set at 16mm) 1/250th sec, f4.5, ISO 4000
This is Azeem Rafiq, the former cricketer who revealed the extent of racism in the sport. We met him at a car wash in Rotherham to find out what his life is like now. Azeem has a chippy in Barnsley but did not want to be photographed there, he has received threats and didn’t want to escalate the situation so I photographed him at the car wash. Sometimes that is the trick, turning up with no idea of the surroundings and where the subject is willing to go to, and having to produce an image to go with an exclusive interview.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 24-70mm zoom lens (set at 24mm) 1/250th sec, f9, ISO 250 using a Neewer battery powered studio light.
Trent Alexander-Arnold takes a throw-in during Liverpool’s match with Inter Milan. This was a different angle for me. At Champions League matches, because of the huge media interest, there is a position for photographers in the front row of the Sir Kenny Dalglish stand. It was the first time I had been in this position and I really enjoyed the different angle.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1DX Mark ll using 70-200mm zoom lens (set at 180mm) 1/800th sec, f4, ISO 2500
Marc writes I was very fortunate to be invited to spend a working day with horse racing trainer Fergal O’Brien who is based at Ravenshill farm near Withington, Cheltenham, as he prepares for the Cheltenham Festival. Having relinquished his ambition to be a jockey, he moved to the stables of Nigel Twiston-Davies at Naunton in Gloucestershire where he stayed for 19 years, becoming head lad and assistant trainer. While working for Twiston-Davies he helped prepare two Grand National winners, Earth Summit (1998) and Bindaree (2002), and Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander in 2010. The dawn light suddenly broke through and by laying on the muddy ground and exposing for the light I managed to capture a horse and jockey in full flight.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III using 16-35mm wide angle zoom (set at 16mm) 1/3200th sec f7.1. ISO 1000.
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Having the freedom to follow Fergal and his impressive team as they went through their routines of training the horses allowed me to take pictures specifically for this gallery. I filed 82 pictures for this feature in our Cheltenham supplement today but this frame of a racehorse crossing a waterlogged track was worth the sideways look at sport with the action frozen at 1-5,300th of a second.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III using 70-200mm zoom lens (set at 200mm) 1/5300th sec f4. ISO 400.
I am slightly unqualified to give England forward Maro Itoje any advice when doing battle with his opposite number Tadhg Beirne in the lineout, but not being all fingers and thumbs might help. Taken at Twickenham on Saturday during a thrilling Six Nations clash.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III using 560mm lens (400mm fitted with x1.4 converter) 1/1300th sec f4. ISO 5000.
This is one of those frames which I did not notice at the time of editing and filing live for the Sunday Times. After Charlie Ewels had been shown a red card after just 82 seconds I saw that England wing Jack Nowell, on the right in the blue scrum cap, adapted to playing as flanker at the scrums. Typically of Jack, he then sprinted to his usual position of a wing during open play and had a superb match, however it was the random flailing leg and especially the contorted faces of the Ireland front row which caught my eye.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III using 560mm lens. 1/1300th sec f5.6. ISO 4000.
I am very fond of Cornishman Jack Nowell and have got to know him quite well. I was not at all surprised to see him jump over boards at the end of the match after England’s bruising defeat and search out his family and friends and go and receive a welcome cuddle from his daughter Nori. It is the faces and reactions of Nori and those around him which is why I enjoy pictures like this.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R5 using RF24-70mm lens (set at 33mm) 1/800th sec f4. ISO 2000.
I needed to present a wider selection of pictures from Stamford Bridge to my sports editor on Sunday rather than the usual on-pitch action. After the government sanctions imposed last week against Chelsea’s Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, it meant the enormous club shop was closed and for the first time in my memory, there were no match-day programmes for sale. I wanted to be able to show the street vendors still plying their trade on the Fulham Road.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using 16-35mm lens (set at 34mm) 1/800th sec f7.1. ISO 640.
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There was only one banner remaining which always hangs in the corner of the Matthew Harding Stand at Stamford Bridge and I waited patiently for the light to be extinguished on The Roman Empire.
Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III using 560mm lens. 1/1600th sec f9. ISO 800.
Of course this gallery would not be complete without lady luck paying a visit and here Kai Havertz’s superb late strike condemned Newcastle to a first defeat in ten matches as Chelsea secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, scoring in the 89th minute and captured on my remote camera behind the goal.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R5 using 16-35mm wide angle zoom lens. (At 16mm) 1/1600th sec f6.3. ISO 2000.
Photographers are only allowed to sit at the side of the pitch at Stamford Bridge which is incredibly restricting, especially having the linesman blocking your view of the goal. However I kept a camera fitted with a wide angle lens with me as I wanted to show the East Stand as this could be the last time it will be seen full for the foreseeable future. Only season ticket holders are allowed to attend the Blues’ remaining games for the campaign which will dramatically affect crowd numbers. There are approximately 28,000 season ticket holders but Stamford Bridge’s capacity is 41,837, so this view will look somewhat different when Chelsea host Brentford on April 2.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using RF24-70mm wide angle zoom (set at 24mm) 1/2000th sec f5.6. ISO 800.
