A Season Through One Lens: From Old Trafford to Selhurst Park

The story of a title-winning season is usually written in goals, points and league tables. David Price tells it in light, shadow and split-second reactions.

The club photographer was there from the first whistle at Old Trafford in August to the mayhem of a Premier League trophy lift at Selhurst Park in May, camera in hand, instincts honed. With the campaign finally in the books, he has pulled together 20 images that, stitched together, feel like a private album of a very public triumph.

20. Hello Hincapie

It starts quietly. No roar, no confetti. Just Piero Hincapie caught behind the scenes during his signing video, harsh light cutting across his face as he grips the club flag. The glare should ruin the frame. Instead it sharpens it, turning a routine media duty into a statement: new signing, new chapter.

19. Gabi gets away

Then the speed hits you. Gabriel Martinelli, a blur of red tearing away from two Kairat Almaty defenders. Clean lines, green grass, bodies left behind. It’s the kind of action shot that needs no caption: power in the stride, intent in the shoulders, the pure separation that defines an elite winger.

18. Competitive edge

Not every telling moment comes in a stadium. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka square up in a small-sided training game, faces locked in, bodies coiled. It starts as a bit of fun, then you see it tighten. The grins fade, the stakes rise. Even on a quiet training pitch, that edge never really switches off.

17. Parade day

Title parades can blur into noise. This one didn’t. Price’s chosen frame is almost claustrophobic: every inch crammed with supporters, red smoke curling through the air, faces craning towards the buses. You can almost hear it. He’s shot parades before, but this time the city feels closer, louder, more desperate to touch the moment.

16. Let it all work out

A new number 10, a new role, a simple gesture. The image is stripped back: a clean shot of the club’s playmaker, arm raised, waving to the Arsenal supporters. It sounds straightforward; it wasn’t. Two other cameramen jostled for the same angle, bodies and microphones in the way. One frame emerges untouched, the sort of picture that ends up on bedroom walls.

15. The mask

Some celebrations become folklore before they even happen. Viktor’s mask routine was always going to be one of them. Price knew it would appear across the season, but catching it clean is another matter. Here, he does. No blur, no obstruction, just the forward locked in his iconic pose, the personality of the player distilled into a single, sharp image.

14. Picture perfect

Away from the pitch, the city plays its part. A hand-painted sign, a window, two fans framed perfectly as the parade buses roll past. They’re mid-reaction, caught between disbelief and delight. It’s a small moment, but it captures the way a title win spills out of stadiums and into side streets.

13. Under the lights

Before facing Bayer Leverkusen, Price digs out an old star filter from his office, a relic from another era. It proves inspired. He lines up Declan Rice with the floodlights blazing behind him, the filter turning the beams into starbursts that frame his face. The result is cinematic: a modern midfield general cast in old-school floodlight glamour.

12. What it means

As the season tightens, every goal carries extra weight. At the London Stadium, Leandro Trossard strikes, and the reaction from Leandro and Cristhian tells the story. Bodies explode, faces contort, the release is raw. It’s not just joy; it’s pressure leaving the system, captured in a single eruption of emotion.

11. Captain’s glow

Sometimes luck helps. Martin Ødegaard stands over a free-kick, and a thin shaft of light cuts across the pitch. He just happens to be in it. His number glows while the rest of the frame sinks into shadow. It looks staged, almost theatrical, but it’s pure chance married to a photographer ready to pounce.

10. Cool customer

Back to Selhurst Park, where chaos reigns. The Premier League trophy is being passed around, celebrations erupt everywhere, but Eberechi Eze takes a beat. He stands apart, composed, almost languid, looking effortlessly cool while the madness swirls behind him. One player, one moment of stillness amid a storm of gold and noise.

9. Cold on the coast

January in Bournemouth brings a different mood. The temperature bites, the sky hangs low. Price switches to black and white, a rare choice for him, and it fits. The absence of colour sharpens the feeling of that night on the south coast, the cold seeping through the frame as much as it did through the stands.

8. On the board

Mikel Arteta’s touchline theatre is a recurring theme. In last year’s favourite, he leapt into the air. This time, from the same match, he turns to the Arsenal supporters, celebrating with the scoreboard looming behind him. It’s not just a coach enjoying a goal; it’s a man reading the numbers, knowing exactly what they mean for the season.

7. Rising highest

Penalty boxes are chaos. This frame embraces it. Bodies everywhere, arms raised, defenders scrambling. In the middle of it all, “little Gabi” rises, head tilted, timing perfect, meeting the ball above taller opponents. The clutter makes the leap stand out even more. Among the many, one figure climbs above the rest.

6. Chelsea dagger

Some pictures hum with atmosphere. Under the floodlights, Kai Havertz’s face is etched with emotion after striking against Chelsea. Steam rises from his shoulders, catching the light, turning him into a silhouette of effort and release. The expression is pure, the context ruthless: a former club punished, a title charge fuelled.

5. Gold dust

While colleague Stuart MacFarlane tracks the trophy itself, Price looks for something different. He finds it in Myles Lewis-Skelly, proudly displaying his gold Premier League patch. No fireworks, no confetti, just a young player quietly showing off the ultimate badge of success. In a season of big moments, this one whispers – and that makes it stand out.

4. Winning feeling

West Ham away, again. The London Stadium tunnel becomes a victory corridor as Gabriel and William Saliba stride off the pitch, huge frames, bigger grins. They’re not celebrating wildly; they don’t need to. Their body language says enough: job done, clean sheet, another vital step banked.

3. NLD emotions

The north London derby delivers its own brand of electricity, and this frame bottles it. Eberechi Eze covers a huge smile, trying and failing to hide his delight. Zubi stands nearby, shrugging as if to say, “What did you expect?” Piero Hincapie and Declan Rice look on the brink of losing control in the best possible way. It’s layered, chaotic, joyous – the derby in a single glance.

2. Parade, revisited

Not every historic nod needs to shout. One of Price’s simplest shots carries one of the deepest meanings: a current-day moment set against the backdrop of the old Highbury Clock End clock. The present stands in front of the past, the line of succession clear. One frame, decades of history.

1. A moment in time

And then, the season freezes. No grand montage, no stitched-together collage. Just one image that holds everything in place for a heartbeat – trophies lifted, faces lit, colours blazing, the journey from Old Trafford to Selhurst Park compressed into a single click.

The numbers and records will live in the almanacs. These 20 pictures will live somewhere else entirely: in the way this season felt.