Paul Craig’s photos capture Leeds’ England semi-final heartbreak

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·17 July 2026

Paul Craig’s photos capture Leeds’ England semi-final heartbreak

Leeds documentary photographer Paul Craig turned from the big screen to record the city’s shared anguish as England’s semi-final hopes slipped away.

He has been documenting public viewing spaces across Leeds for his project Watching England. According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, the work traces the tension, surges of hope and late heartbreak that bind strangers together.

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Craig’s focus is the crowd, not the action, catching ritual gestures, white-knuckle silence and those split-second swings from fear to elation to despair.

He says he has not actually seen a goal, his eyes fixed on faces instead of the pitch or the screen.

A gallery of 43 images shows Leeds fans riding the tournament’s highs and lows, a vivid portrait of a city watching as one.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk