We did some nice portraits for BBC news at MediaCity for a very interesting story –  The Footballer, the Saudi prince and the proposition. About Eamonn O’Keefe, a former footballer who played professionally in Saudi Arabia. The Club president Prince Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Saud asked O’Keefe to give up his football career to become his lover, and was refused

Eamonn O’Keefe now living back in the North West.

Professional Portrait Photographer

Eamonn in Saudi with the Prince and one of his wives

BBC News Photography

As Prince Abdullah was such as a wealthy and powerful man in Saudi Arabia (a member of the House of Saud), O’Keefe fled the country, fearing for his safety. As he needed Prince Abdullah’s permission to leave the country, O’Keefe had to convince him that he was only going to stay in England for one week so as to visit his ill father (who was in fact in good health).Upon his return he informed The Football Association who gave him advice after forming an emergency meeting.

Read the full story on the BBC Website here

View more of our portrait photography here

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Al-Hilal Club

Was originally known as the Olympic Club during its founding by Abdul Rahman Bin Saad Bin Saeed on 15 October 1957 in Riyadh. The club’s name lasted for only one year before it was changed to its current name on 3 December 1958 by King Saud Bin Abdul-Aziz. He changed the name after he attended a tournament that was contested between the Olympic Club, Al-Shabab, Al-Riyadh and El-Kawkab clubs. As soon as the club’s establishment, Al-Hilal enjoyed not only grassroots support but also royal attention.

After spending their formative years building a squad, the club made their first mark by lifting the Kings Cup trophy in 1961. That began a period in which the club won 50 official competitions. Al-Hilal recaptured the King’s Cup in 1964, with a penalty shootout victory over two-time Asian champions Al-Ittihad.

In 1991, they won the first Asian title, Asian Club Championship. They won it again in 1999-2000. In 1997 they captured the Asian Cup Winners and the Asian Super Cup of that year, which they lifted again in 2002. The last time they got their hands on a continental trophy was in 2002, when they won the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup.