Sean Dyche stood against a green brick wall along Flaxman Court, a street in London’s Soho district. The bald-headed Everton manager was wearing a black t-shirt under a navy blue bomber jacket as he cast a steely gaze at the camera held by Marc Aspland, an award-winning sports photographer who has worked for The Times, a British daily newspaper based in London, for more than 30 years.
At that moment, possibly in January or February 2024, it is conceivable that neither of the two men expected the photograph to go viral as a quote card condemning ideas and practices in modern football that deviate from cherished traditions.
In the photograph, the 53-year old Englishman’s face presents an illustrated glossary of all facial muscle contractions you can think of.
Forehead lines are running above his eyebrows between which his skin folds to create frowning lines. His deep-set eyes, lying under the permanent shadow cast by his eyebrows, are surrounded by the crow’s feet stretching from their corners and the semi-circular wrinkles forming beneath them.
Nasolabial folds flank his ginger moustache and lips which he has pressed inwards. His lips barely touch, giving all indication they have been summoned to utter something in disgust. “Utter woke nonsense,” as the viral quote card created using that photograph of him suggests, seems to be what Sean Dyche is saying but there is no evidence of him ever saying that.
However, that the photograph was taken during an interview with The Times writer Matthew Syed in which he objectively criticised some ideas and practices in modern football like the proposed introduction of sin bins, “utter woke nonsense” is very much something Sean Dyche, born of a father who worked for British Steel and a mother who was a craftswoman who made shoes by hand, would have easily said. “I think the problem is that we put feelings above truth, perception above reality,” Dyche tells Syed.
In that interview he also shared life experiences which emphasised on the importance of people being brutally honest with themselves and the people they love. One such experience he shared with Syed was a telephone conversation he had with his father after he had failed his O-level exams. In that conversation, Dyche blamed his teachers and coaches for his failure. However, his father did not entertain his excuses and firmly told him to stop blaming others and work harder. “I think love is shown by telling the truth. The whole truth. Sometimes, the brutal truth,” Dyche says in the interview with Syed.
According to information shared on Know Your Meme, the “UTTER WOKE NONSENSE” quote card with Sean Dyche photo’s on it started going viral in May 2024, three months after his interview with Matthew Syed.
While Sean Dyche’s posture in that quote card creates an impression that he is angry old man, going by other photographs of Sean Dyche taken during that interview, that perception is far from the truth. It is far from the austere and stoic image that the internet has of Sean Dyche.
Everton Manager Sean Dyche smiles as he stands with his arms crossed along Flaxman Court in London Soho’s district. (Photo by Marc Aspland / The Times)
Everton Manager Sean Dyche and The Times writer Matthew Syed smile as they pose for a photograph. (Photo by Marc Aspland / The Times)
In one such photograph, Sean Dyche stands smiling with arms crossed and the Union Jack blurred in the background as it hangs from a hotel flag post. In another photograph, Dyche smiles broadly as he stands next to Syed. He looks like an happy old man, one, as he confessed to Syed, who enjoys watching TV shows like Game of Thrones and attending club events where his favourite music is being played. “Life is an adventure and you have to approach it in the right spirit,” Dyche tells Syed.
It is highly unlikely that any of those two photos of Sean Dyche would have gone viral since they do not the strong emotions that qualify a photo to be used as a reaction image in the meme-obsessed world we currently live in.
Also, while those two images give a side of Sean Dyche that the public is not familiar with, there is no denying that the photo of him casting an angry look at the camera is the most iconic photo of the Everton manager. The photo is also one that truly captures the essence of a man who advocates for people not to put feelings above truth, and perception above reality, because not doing so, while not his words, would be “utter woke nonsense”.