On leaving the Arsenal versus Manchester City Premier League soccer match on Saturday I was approached by two Arsenal fans. They asked me my opinion of the game, which I gave them, adding that Manchester Citys Micah Richards was a future England captain. Before carrying on their inebriated way they asked me where I was going the next day. I told them to the Wales v France international rugby friendly.. Any chance we can carry your bags? Any chance indeed..well its a question all sports photographers have probably been asked a thousand times. No-one ever offers to carry my bags when I am doorstepping the Prime Minister in Downing Street or waiting in the rain to car shot a disgraced MP outside the House of Commons or when travelling on assignment to Iraq. But mention a sports event in any climate and you are immediately inundated with offers of help.
Being an wire agency photographer allows us the privilege of covering not only all the world’s hard news but also the world’s major sporting tournaments. Every one completely different but all sharing one similarity. Sometimes it is the culmination of everything that has gone before it. Sometimes it can happen half a dozen times in one match.The one defining moment that all sports photographers wait for, and the one that sums up the very core of every professional sportsperson’s being. Winning.

The following images are taken from a few of the major sporting events I have covered where I was lucky enough to be in the right spot when it mattered. Make no mistake that there is an awful lot of luck involved in some of these pictures. Sometimes we make our own luck but when we do find ourselves in the perfect spot, we rely on our news instincts to take over.

The first picture involve Chelsea’s golden boys Terry and Lampard  celebrating a goal during their defeat of Bayern Munich in a Champions League quarter final at Stamford Bridge. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of luck that was involved in getting this picture, but suffice to say I was very relieved I did. The second image shows Autralia celebrating their 1999 Cricket World Cup win at Lords. This picture was simply point, wait and shoot.

 The next two pictures highlight my two favourite title winning moments at Wimbledon. Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic had climbed into the family box to greet his father who is sobbing into a spectator’s arms. That moment gave me goosebumps as I was shooting it, something that has never happened before or since. It probably had a lot to do with my having spent years watching Ivanisevic try and achieve his dream and at that moment I knew he had. It was such a privilege to have witnessed that moment that I knew for me nothing at Wimbledon again would ever better it. Nothing has, but Venus Williams celebratory moment was as pure a sporting moment as any I have ever seen.

Michael Owen’s celebration of his second of two goals in British football’s biggest stage, the FA Cup Final, again found me and not the other way round. The second picture shows the Police Football Team’s Ahmed Mnajed being congratulated after his side’s victory over rival side Al Zawra at the Al Zawra stadium in Baghdad. This match between Iraq’s top two teams is the first major sports event since the fall of President Saddam Hussein.

The moment surrounding this final picture probably gives me the most satisfaction in several ways. It was the culmination of an eight week tour spent following the England team in their pursuit of World Cup glory. Wilkinson’s World Cup winning kick was over in a second. It sealed England’s first World Cup triumph in any sport since 1966. It sealed the fate of the Australian team who were unable to prevent the inevitable. For the first time I thought not about the celebrating players, but about the impact this result would have on a million English rugby fans at home. That’s the power of sport. Definitely something worth celebrating.