"The project transports everyone who sees it, you feel like you're eight or nine just kicking a ball in the street with your mates," explains Michael Kirkham.
The south-Liverpool man takes a break from explaining the idea behind his now iconic photography project Urban Goals to have a sip from a pint of San Miguel. The 44-year-old photographer, wearing a black Carhartt jumper and sporting a paperclip tattoo on his ring finger, is speaking to the ECHO from a quiet corner of the city centre pub The Grapes on an overcast Tuesday afternoon.
For over eight years Michael has been capturing photos of a bygone area. Of a time when youngsters gathered to play football in the street, with nothing more than the ball itself and a crudely painted goal on an available wall. Some of the city's finest footballers honed their talents playing in the streets of Merseyside, including the likes of Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney.
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But these urban goals are fast becoming a permanent image of football's past. In the age of the Premier League, where clubs have grown into multi-billion pound businesses, there has never been a bigger disconnection between the footballing elite and the working class communities around them.
And since stumbling across his first goal in 2015 and having a self-confessed "eureka" moment, Michael has set out to document the stark divide. "Football is undeniably working class," Michael tells the ECHO. "Football photography in Liverpool is a powerful story, but also an easy one to tell because it's a life passion for me.
"It's a great subject matter because of the contrasts - football has been taken piece by piece from the working class, so we have the goals in the street but also the dizzying heights of the Premier League. It makes me sad but I hope the photos can spark a debate."
But despite the project's now global success, Urban Goals started almost by accident. "Urban Goals came from me wanting an easy job that I could shoot on my own," Michael says. "I have to chase people a lot in my day-to-day work which can make me feel quite burnt out. I wanted a project that was just me and my camera.
"The first goal I shot was one on Jermyn Street in Toxteth. It's cheesy to say but I had a eureka moment. I saw it and realised I could photograph the goals and the setting they're in. Liverpool is the most passionate football city in the country. I knew I would see the goals around the city in areas like L8, Anfield, Everton and Kenny."
The dad-of-one shot over 100 goals across the city before he showed anyone, but after realising the demand for the project, began almost obsessively seeking them out. He would spend hours walking around different communities in Merseyside, with nothing more than his camera for company. And after Michael found all he could on foot, he turned to Google Maps, trawling through streets, parks and wasteland for any sign of a goal.
As the project grew, Michael widened his arch and started visiting other towns and cities across the country. The self-taught snapper has since documented working class neighbourhoods in the likes of Belfast, London, Manchester, Sheffield, and Hull. "I've shot hundreds and hundreds of pictures and have been trying to find correlations as to why there are more goals in certain places," Michael says starting on his second pint.
"I've found towns and cities that have ports tend to have more street goals. Belfast and Hull all have lots of goals and have brilliantly diverse and rich communities because of their ports. It's much harder to find them in places like Manchester for example. But there are more goals in Liverpool than anywhere else."
Born in Toxteth in the early 80s, Michael moved to Hertfordshire with his family when he was eight. He tells the ECHO the move came as a "culture shock" - and all the time he was down south Liverpool was always still "his home".
A roofer by trade, Michael also considered joining the army in his youth. But a devastating family tragedy proved to be the catalyst for Michael to return to Liverpool. He said: "My brother died when I was in my early 20s. It made me realise I was done down south and wanted to come back. I ended up falling into photography by mistake.
"I went travelling to South America when I was 30 and my dad gave me a second hand camera to document my time. When I came home I realised there was a bit of a talent there so borrowed cameras off people and carried on teaching myself. I did it part time for about three years doing wedding shoots and things like that while still working in telesales. I then took the dive to do it full time about 10 years ago.
"I knew working in Liverpool, in a city I'm proud to call home, would be perfect for what I want to do. The city is a wealth of subject matter - it's so political and football is right at the heart of the communities."
Despite his successes, the Liverpool FC fan admits he still "feels like an imposter" in the photography world, mostly down to his lack of formal training. In spite of this, the project has continued to grow, and after eight years Michael has exhibited Urban Goals internationally and sells prints around the world.
Urban Goals has also led into some other football-related projects, including photographing Bramley Moore FC - documenting the friendship and community at the grassroots club in the shadow of Everton's new home - and "The Blues" - a project snapping Everton's fans which has helped with his own personal blues after his mum's death.
But it's still Urban Goals that Michael lauds as his proudest body of work. With two years to go before the project celebrates 10 years, Michael says he wants to sign it off with a book documenting his favourite goals from across Liverpool, the UK, and Europe.
"Urban Goals has become like a part-time job for me," Michael says. "Waking up, researching it for hours, going out, getting the photos, moving into the next place. But I can't not carry on with it because it's given me so much.
"I've had so many doors opened for me now because of it. I'm just some working class kid who used to knock around doing stuff I shouldn't. Urban Goals has changed my life."
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