Offside by Jurgen Vantomme (Lanoo, £19.95)

IT MAY seem obscure to be reviewing a photography book of unusual Belgian football stadiums in the sports pages of a British daily and you won’t be alone in that view.

Bemused expressions and curiosity were what greeted the prospect of the niche little book gracing the pages of the Morning Star in our news meeting.

Yet there is a story behind photographer Jurgen Vantomme’s labour of love. His journey and photos tell the refreshing tale of football’s humble beginnings and give a flavour of how deep passion for the sport goes — one which contrasts starkly with the glossy steel and glass profit-driven modern game that dominates our perception of the game and that has seen it become a global force.

I came across Vantomme’s architectural images adorning the cover of Stand fanzine — a brilliantly diverse little non-club specific fanzine that was born out of the “against modern football” feeling — where the images of torn up pitches against a background of the industrial sites of Belgium infrastructure appealed to me.

When his book Offside landed on my desk I was immediately enamoured by it’s neat size — not much bigger than a standard 4"x6" photo — and its graphically pleasing simplicity with each slice of text handily reproduced in French, Flemish and English.

Explaining how he came to embark on a project that would see him traversing the entirety of the small country seeking out pitches, Vantomme said that his interest in the structure and landscape of stadia grew from an early age: “Since childhood, I would go watch football matches every weekend. My father was a fanatic supporter and I became one as well. I would draw pictures of what I had seen at games. But I never drew the players, always the stands.”

This grew when the keen-eyed youngster was handed a camera: “When I was twelve, my parents gave me a photo camera. I aimed it at what fascinated me the most: the stands of my local football team. Very peculiar, but even at a young age, I was already more fascinated by the side issues than by the game itself. Is the stadium full? Where is the Spion Kop? Which banners are hanging? Later, during my studies, I took photography classes. Therefore, it was a logical step to combine my two passions, photography and football, in one project.

“For years, I travelled to photograph the most beautiful and most typical Belgian fields and stadiums.

“Every weekend, I was away, driving endless hours to capture that one small stadium in the lowest divisions. That is how my journey began, which for seasons long, brought me to the deepest dungeons of Belgian football.”

It was a project that would see him photographing sites such as the crumbling abandoned stand that is the oldest in Belgium and the first concrete stand in Europe, a ground bordering a cemetery and pitch of RFC Huy Youth situated in the shadows of Tihange nuclear power station — which from 2006 leaked radioactive water. In 2012 it was revealed that the leak still existed.

Mud-caked players, diehard fans braving icy conditions and determined volunteer staff bring them to life.

Sandwiched in between the striking images are personal accounts and memories from a selection of Belgium players, journalists and fans who recount their key moments in Belgian football history.

Because for Vantomme, football is about more than the score, it’s about the ideas, atmosphere and surroundings that inspire people to come together, whatever the weather, to take part in a ball being kicked: “With this book I try to show the other side of football. Back to the roots. Where money isn’t that important, for the love of football. Where everyone is looking at an action-shot, I try to show the atmosphere in where the players play their game.

“I like to visit the smaller clubs where fans and players dream of getting up. I like the older tradition-clubs with fans still dreaming of how it was back then.”