Centre of Possibility (FA COP 26)
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Project Year
2026
Client
FA Cup
Centre of Possibility (FA COP 26) is a participatory installation that brings a wide array of people to the centre of football, transforming the fundamental elements of the game into a living, evolving experience. Rooted in material, memory and participation, the work explores how football is constructed not only through its physical components, but through the people, rituals and moments that give it meaning.
At its core, the installation begins with a simple idea: football is made up of a series of elements that, when brought together, create power, purpose and possibility. Grass, pitch markings, the four corners of the field, the goal nets and the ball itself are individually functional, but collectively they form a system capable of producing moments that resonate far beyond the game. Centre of Possibility takes these components and reimagines them as a sculptural environment, a distilled stadium where the public are invited to step inside and become the focal point.
The structure of the work reflects this transformation. Grass taken from Wembley’s pitch, the symbolic centre of English football, grounds the installation in the physical reality of the game’s most iconic stage. Reclaimed goal nets from Wembley are tensioned within the structure, forming a central spherical geometry that references the football itself. The four corners of the pitch are reinterpreted as vertical structural points, defining the boundaries of the space and creating a contained field of play. These elements, removed from their original context, are brought together to form a new system, one that shifts focus away from elite performance and towards collective experience.
The journey into this space begins with a familiar ritual: obtaining a ticket. Visitors take a printed ticket from a repurposed line-marking machine once used to mark out pitches at Wembley. The machine still carries the traces of its previous life, including handwritten notes by a groundsman referencing matches it once prepared. Now reworked into a functioning printing press, it produces tickets that are stamped and issued alongside a token. This act of receiving a ticket echoes both the everyday experience of attending a match and the idea of access, the moment where an individual moves from outside the game to becoming part of it.
The geometry of a football is rooted in a sacred geometric form, the truncated icosahedron, a structure built from interconnected pentagons and hexagons that exists in both mathematics and nature. Within Centre of Possibility, this geometry becomes more than a symbol of the game; it becomes a spatial structure that people are invited to physically step inside. Positioned at the centre of the form, the participant becomes part of its balance and symmetry, transforming momentarily into a sacred object themselves, held within the elemental components of football: the pitch, the net, the boundaries and the ball.
There is also a connection here to historic sacred drawings such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, where the human body is placed at the centre of geometry, proportion and universal order. In the same way, Centre of Possibility positions the individual at the centre of football’s physical and symbolic structure, suggesting that the game itself is ultimately activated and given meaning through human presence.
From here, participants enter the installation via a series of steps, carefully designed to evoke the experience of walking up the iconic Wembley steps. This transitional moment is intentional, a physical and psychological shift from spectator to participant. As they ascend, there is a sense of anticipation, echoing the build-up to entering a stadium, where expectation and excitement begin to rise. The act of climbing becomes part of the ritual, reinforcing the idea that stepping into the installation is also stepping into a moment of significance.
Once inside, the participant steps into the centre of the installation. Positioned on a small podium, they are invited to take on a series of simple, celebratory poses, arms raised, outstretched or extended. These gestures are universal, instantly recognisable as expressions of joy, triumph and presence. In this moment, the individual is no longer a spectator, but the focal point of the environment, occupying the centre of the geometry and, symbolically, the centre of the game itself.
Within the structure visitors stood upon a central podium and were photographed using an instant camera system that utilised thermal printing technology. Rather than producing polished photographic reproductions, the process intentionally created raw, high-contrast images that resembled quick sketches or expressive drawings. The immediacy of the thermal print allowed the moment to be captured almost instantly, preserving the energy, emotion and spontaneity of participation in real time. This rough, transient visual quality reflected the emotional intensity often associated with football itself: fleeting moments of tension, celebration and human connection that exist powerfully for only a brief period before becoming memory.
Each print was stamped, inscribed with the participant’s name and archived within the growing FA COP 26 book — an evolving public document inspired equally by football sticker albums, social archives and participatory art practice. Participants also received their own print housed within bespoke envelopes created from reclaimed FA Cup final programmes. These programmes, once documenting historic matches, are transformed into personal artefacts, connecting past narratives with new ones being created in real time.
The token received at entry introduces another layer to the experience. Participants are invited to flip the token before approaching the vintage-style bubble gum machine, a deliberate reference to the rituals of chance, anticipation and competition that exist within football and childhood alike. The simple act of tossing the token and waiting to see which side it lands on recalls early memories of collecting football stickers, trading cards and small toys, while also echoing the unpredictability that defines the game itself.
Each token carries two symbols taken from Centre of Possibility. One side features the centre mark, the symbolic point where every game begins , while the reverse carries either the Spark or New Dawn emblem, representing energy, optimism and future potential. Both sides hold equal meaning within the wider narrative of the installation, yet the flip of the token introduces a competitive element that reflects the structure of football itself: every match is made up of two sides, but ultimately there can only be one winner. If the token lands on the centre mark, the participant wins one of the specially created Grassroots Players.
These figurines have been 3D printed using material created from the grass of Wembley itself, transforming the physical surface of one of football’s most iconic grounds into a collectible object. In this sense, the figure becomes a literal “grassroots player” — connecting the mythology of Wembley with the origins of the game at community level.
Each Grassroots Player is housed within a transparent sphere that references the form of the football itself. By enclosing the figure within this clear ball, the object becomes symbolic of the participant standing within The Centre of Possibility, held momentarily at the centre of the experience, just as players step into the centre circle before the beginning of a match. The sphere preserves not only the figurine, but the idea of potential, ambition and participation, turning the object into both a personal keepsake and a metaphor for the individual’s place within the wider story of football.
Over the duration of the exhibition, the FA COP 26 book grows into a cumulative archive — a contemporary reinterpretation of childhood sticker albums and collectible culture. Each page documents a different individual, a different pose, a different moment. The book becomes a portrait not of professional players, but of the public — a diverse and evolving record of those who have stepped forward to participate. It reflects the idea that football is not defined solely by those on the pitch, but by the wider community that surrounds and sustains it.
The use of materials throughout the work is both deliberate and symbolic. By incorporating grass, nets and equipment sourced from Wembley, the installation carries the physical memory of the game within it. These materials are not neutral; they hold traces of past matches, performances and moments. Their reuse not only reflects a sustainable approach to making, but also embeds authenticity and narrative into the structure itself. The installation becomes a continuation of these materials’ lives, extending their meaning beyond their original function.
At the same time, the work engages with childhood as a space of imagination and possibility. Football is often first encountered not in stadiums, but in informal spaces — playgrounds, streets, schoolyards — where rules are flexible and outcomes are open. The references to ticketing, collecting, chance-based rewards and personal keepsakes draw on these early experiences, reconnecting participants with the sense that anything is possible. This connection to childhood reinforces the central idea of the work: that football, at its heart, is a space of opportunity.
Centre of Possibility (FA COP 26) ultimately proposes that the essence of the FA Cup lies not only in competition, but in access, unpredictability and collective experience. By inviting the public to step into the structure, be recorded, and become part of a growing archive, the installation shifts the focus from observation to participation. It creates a space where anyone — regardless of background, identity or experience — can momentarily occupy the centre.
In doing so, the work celebrates the enduring belief that defines the FA Cup: that anyone can step forward, take their chance, and become part of something larger than themselves.
Photography: Tim Easton
Location: Saatchi Gallery
Exhibition: Art Of Possibility
