How Plymouth Argyle FC Got Their Photos Under Control and Boosted Their Brand

A historic club hit a modern-day roadblock

Plymouth Argyle Football Club (PAFC) has been around since 1901, and they have a lot of history to share. As a pro soccer team, they’re always in the spotlight and need a steady stream of high-quality photos and videos. Their system for handling all this content was a mess. It was clunky and slow, which made it tough to get content to players, fans, and partners.

The challenge: A tangled system was slowing everyone down

When Izzy Field started as the Club Photographer, she found that the team’s way of managing photos and videos was holding them back. Their tools just weren’t cut out for the fast pace of professional sports. This led to some big problems that hurt the club’s ability to share its story.

• Finding photos was hard. The club stored its images in Sharepoint, which Izzy said was “really, really difficult” to use. Nothing was organized, and photos often wouldn’t even load. 
• No labels meant no way to search. Without any captions or keywords, finding the right image for a specific moment was nearly impossible. The team had to hunt for everything manually, which wasted a lot of valuable time. 
• Sharing images felt unprofessional and risky. To get photos to players or the media team, Izzy had to send them through WhatsApp. This wasn’t just slow, it was also an insecure way to handle the club’s assets. 
• A better way was out there. Izzy had used PhotoShelter at her old job and knew how much easier things could be. Her past success made the problems with their current system feel even more frustrating and highlighted the need for a change.

“When I got to Plymouth Argyle, they were using SharePoint and I was finding it really, really difficult. There was no order to the images, stuff wasn’t being captioned… the system just wasn’t very good.”

Izzy Field, Club Photographer, Plymouth Argyle Football Club

The solution: Everything in one place and ready to go

Making the move to PhotoShelter was a game-changer for PAFC. The club went from a frustrating, manual workflow to a smooth and professional one almost overnight. With one smart, central spot for all their content, they could finally get images out quickly and easily.

• The whole team got on the same page. Because Izzy had “used PhotoShelter before and had such good success with it,” she was confident it would be a “seamless process to just move straight over.” A simple thing, like the fact that all the images actually loaded properly, made a huge difference. 
• Photos can be shared in real time. Now, the social media team gets pictures right as the action happens during a game, which “makes things a lot easier.” Thanks to a direct FTP connection, the “workflow on a match day is much quicker now,” shrinking the time between a goal and a celebration post to almost nothing. The team can also use the FileFlow app when they’re “on the move.” 
• Players and sponsors get what they need automatically. The club uses Smart Galleries to create a personal, always-updated folder for each player. The players love it because they can grab their photos right from their phones, which feels “a lot more professional than sending a Whatsapp message.” This same magic works for sponsors, who get their photos without the creative team having to lift a finger.

• Smart search took the guesswork out of finding photos. With PhotoShelter’s AI Visual Search, the team can just type what they’re looking for, like “people cheering,” and find the right shot. It helps them “cut out the guessing” and makes sure the right images get to the right people without a complicated manual search.

“You want to be the first to report on your own club. You don’t want people hearing about it from the BBC, or whoever it is. So, it’s great getting the pictures out literally as soon as they’re taken, within seconds. Timing is everything, the quicker the better…I can send pictures straight away for social media, and we have a picture ready to go with a story, rather than waiting until I get my laptop up to then upload the picture.”

Izzy Field, Club Photographer, Plymouth Argyle Football Club

A faster, more professional look for Plymouth Argyle FC

For Plymouth Argyle FC, fixing their content workflow was about unlocking their potential. With PhotoShelter, the club can operate with the speed and professionalism of a top-tier brand. As they look to grow their presence, especially in new markets, they have the tools to share their story instantly and with confidence. The days of clunky workarounds are over, replaced by a seamless system that empowers the entire club.

“It’s the turnaround time that benefits us the most. The club as a whole is always keen to grow the brand, especially in America, and so it all supports that drive for building the brand by being able to have inventory quickly. Our quality is always the same, and it’s not sent through Whatsapp anymore. With PhotoShelter and the FileFlow app, it’s as easy as it can be to share our images.”

Izzy Field, Club Photographer, Plymouth Argyle Football Club