The Non-Football Fan Who Snapped the Game Beautifully

Peter Robinson, 82, is one of the most famous sports photographers in the world. He worked as FIFA's official photographer for 20 years and captured images at 13 World Cups. His work is now on display at an exhibition in Leicester, England. But here's the surprising part — Robinson has never been a huge fan of football.

Robinson photographed some of the greatest players who ever lived, including Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Pelé, and Franz Beckenbauer. He traveled to competitions in nearly 100 countries in a career he calls 'bonkers.' He believes that not being a big football fan actually helped him take better and more unique pictures than other sports photographers.

Regular sports photographers focus on goals and big moments on the field. Robinson, on the other hand, always looked for the human stories happening around the game. He said every picture he took had a question mark on it — he always asked himself why a moment happened the way it did. 'I'm destined to shoot these pictures because other people are not,' he told the BBC.

Robinson's photography journey began in the 1960s in Leicester, England. While he was booking local bands to perform, he met a group of photography students called The Contacts. He liked their energy and started wondering what it would be like to make a living taking photos. Soon, he decided to find out.

Even though he didn't own a camera or have any photos to show, Robinson visited the course leader at the Leicester School of Art and asked about studying there. He enrolled in 1964 and fell in love with photography almost instantly. 'It took me a day to figure out this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,' he said.

Robinson admitted that as a student, the last thing he wanted to do was shoot football photos. But he needed money, so he took a job delivering papers for a publication called Football League Review. He eventually became a photographer there, which opened the door to a remarkable career in sports photography.

He later worked for the Football Association and was invited to photograph the 1970 World Cup in Mexico for FIFA. He continued as FIFA's official photographer all the way through the 1994 World Cup in the United States. One of his most celebrated photos came from that tournament's final, played in Los Angeles.

The 1994 World Cup final ended with Italy losing to Brazil on penalty kicks. Italy's captain, Franco Baresi, had to accept a runners-up medal instead of the trophy. Robinson had scouted out the perfect spot the day before and used a special flash gun to improve the lighting and remove harsh shadows from the scene.

The photo shows Baresi accepting his medal, with the World Cup trophy sitting just out of his reach. Robinson described the moment like 'a noose for execution' — Baresi clearly didn't want the consolation prize. Robinson waited patiently for the right moment, then took just one single photograph to capture the scene.

In 1986, Robinson was on the field when Diego Maradona lifted the World Cup trophy in Mexico. He had not planned this shot carefully in advance, unlike the Baresi photo. He noticed the event organizers seemed confused about the ceremony, and he watched Maradona's body language closely to find the right moment.

'He is not doing a dance — he is sort of thinking, this is what it is all about, I am with the big boys now,' Robinson said about Maradona. The footballer looked quiet and thoughtful, not like someone who had just won the world's biggest prize. Robinson loved the photo because of what Maradona's body language revealed.

Robinson's travels also took him far beyond famous stadiums. In 1987, he was working in Madagascar when he wandered into a remote village and spotted locals playing football on a rough, grassy pitch. He stopped for five minutes and captured a powerful image of the goalkeeper standing in the tall grass.

The exhibition of his work is being held at New Parks Library in Leicester — on the same street where Robinson grew up. The show features 40 of his photographs and is curated by Hugo Worthy. Worthy said the images 'tell stories that absolutely go beyond football' and show how the sport connects communities, families, and everyday life.

In 2025, Robinson was honored with a lifetime achievement in sports award at the Lucie Awards, an international photography event. He even came out of retirement to photograph a World Cup match in Miami. Robinson hopes his full archive will one day be displayed at De Montfort University, the school that grew from the Leicester School of Art where his journey first began.