RIP: Steve Bacon

Sad to hear of the death of Steve Bacon. There can't be any other football photographer who was so well known. Steve had his own  chant of "There's only one Stevie Bacon!" from the fans and inspired Phill Jupitus to pen the very funny Clicker Bacon cartoon in Fortune's Always Hiding fanzine. Clicker even had a book published by Biteback in 2012, There's Only One Stevie Bacon. 

Here's what my review at the time said. "As club photographer for 30 years Bacon travelled on the team bus and roomed with the team, so he has lots of juicy inside info on the banter, boozing and lads’ shenanigans, though all told from the viewpoint of a Plaistow-born West Ham fan. We learn that Lou Macari, whom Bacon got on well with, asked Stevie’s advice before signing Colin Foster. He clearly didn't get on with Alan Pardew and writes, “I’ve never known a more arrogant man in my life”. Pards didn’t get off to a good start with Steve when he announced at a hotel dinner that if Bacon’s order looked nicer, “I’m having that!” Never come between a growing lad and his grub. The book recounts a terrified Paolo Di Canio refusing to fly, Harry Redknapp covering Don Hutchison is sandwiches, John Moncur leaping naked from lockers during team talks and Igor Stimac arranging for the players to shoot machine guns in a Croatian wood while playing in the UEFA Cup."

Let's hope Stevie gets some fine shots of Bobby Moore and co from the great touchline up above.