Madchester: Woman surprises photographer who took 1991 shot

Music fan Zonya Jeffrey's recollections of a Happy Mondays concert in 1991 remain clear, but she had long believed that memories were all she had of that day, until she found herself unexpectedly tagged in a picture on Facebook.

In 1991, the world had gone Manchester mad.

Happy Mondays, along with the likes of Inspiral Carpets and the Stone Roses, were the kings of music, comics Steve Coogan, Caroline Aherne and John Thomson were on the rise and Terry Christian's stewardship of Channel 4's youth culture show The Word was at its height.

On the outskirts of the city in Wythenshawe, the 19-year-old Zonya and her best friend Andrea Crump were high on the crest of that wave.

"At that point, people just wanted to be in Manchester," Zonya said.

"There was always a buzz, always an excitement - suddenly, we were part of something bigger and something cool.

"There were these famous people from working-class families in Manchester and this represented us.

"Celebrities mixed with everyone, people blended together, there was something very special about being part of it."

So when Happy Mondays, one of the pair's favourite bands, announced a huge show at Leeds United's Elland Road stadium, they knew they had to be there.

Also on the bill were fellow Mancunians Northside and The High, Liverpool's The Farm and The La's and DJs and regulars at Manchester's famous Hacienda nightclub, Paul Oakenfold and Mike Pickering, the latter of whom was a year away from finding international success with M People.

Zonya said Leeds felt "like miles away", but coaches were put on from Manchester, so the pair set off for a memorable day, wearing T-shirts adorned with the slogans "...And on the sixth day, God created Manchester" and "Born in the North, return to the North, exist in the North, die in the North".

They returned home later with a head full of memories, but no other reminders of the day.

"We had no pictures of the day as we didn't want to take a camera with us in case it got stolen," Andrea said.

Thirty-one years later, the pair got Facebook notifications that they had been tagged in a picture.

Opening up the post, they were hit by an "iconic" image - a black and white photograph of the pair in a smiling embrace on the Elland Road pitch, surrounded by a crowd of gig-goers.

Zonya said they had almost forgotten about it and seeing it was "brilliant".

"We never knew who the photographer was," she said.

"We just remember this cool guy, saying 'Hi girls, can I take your photo?' and we said 'Yeah'."

Andrea said that without the picture, there would be no proof they were even at the gig, as they had lost the tickets and the t-shirts were "long gone".

The picture was taken by Richard Davis, who had moved to Manchester to study photography at the city's polytechnic and had no idea that he "was about to walk into the global phenomenon that the media called Madchester".

He included it in his book about the scene, titled Madchester Years 1989-91, along with images of everyone from Factory Records impresario Anthony Wilson and New Order's then-bass player Peter Hook to Coogan, Aherne and possibly the scene's most recognisable member, Happy Mondays dancer Bez.

Spurred on by the post, Zonya went in search of the book and discovered Davis was doing a signing of it in a Manchester bookshop.

She said she could not resist going along, even though she had no idea what he looked like.

Standing in front of him, she opened the book to the page with their photo on it.

"I pointed to the book and said 'that's me'," she said.

"He couldn't believe it."

The photographer said it had been "such a lovely surprise".

"I didn't know them at the time, but both were wearing Leo B Stanley-designed T-shirts, which were very popular," he said.

"Thirty-one years on, it was nice to finally meet her, and to thank her for letting me take her photo back in '91.

"And, of course, it was nice to finally find out her name."

For the friends, the appearance of the photograph gave them a chance to relive a special moment, which, thanks to the designer of the T-shirts, they were also able to recreate.

Zonya said looking that 1991 shot "makes us feel happy".

"Happy to be a real part of history, both in Manchester and the music scene back in the day."

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