Take a break from real football with some football film classics

We’re in the thick of the football season and there’s plenty of football to watch. The Premier League season is in full swing and the Champions League is going on as well. Added into the mix, there are the qualifiers for Euro 2016 taking place.

Take a break from real football with some football film classics

This weekend, the Premier League is on an international break and so league cup betting will be taking a back seat. However, there are plenty of other games to have a punt on including lots of internationals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday including England at home to Slovenia, Scotland vs Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands vs Latvia and Italy playing Croatia. If you fancy England’s chances, they’re currently priced at around 1/3 to win on sites such as bet365.

But if you’re still not getting enough football viewing time, you can always stream one of the classic football movies described below.

The Damned United (2009)

Adapted from David Peace’s novel, The Damned Utd, this film was directed by Tom Hooper and the plot follows Brian Clough’s 44 days as manager at Leeds United football club in 1974. The film stars Michael Sheen as Brian Clough and it’s clear that Sheen worked tirelessly to get Clough’s distinctive style of speaking ‘down pat’. The film jumps between flashbacks and the present day of the time the film was set in, showing the ups and downs of Brian Clough’s life as a manager, where he goes through periods of being both loved and adored and isolated and lonely.

The film deals with Clough’s inheritance of a team that had just enjoyed its most successful period ever under the management of Clough’s rival Don Revie and the backdrop that Clough had had great success managing Hartlepool and Derby Country with his assistant Peter Taylor. When he took the Leeds job it was without Peter Taylor by his side and his time at Leeds team was smattered with belligerence and brilliance.

Gregory’s Girl (1981)

It’s an oldie, but definitely worth a watch. This isn’t so much a football movie, more one of teenage love that has football as its backdrop. Directed by Bill Forsyth, the story is about Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) who is demoted to position of goalkeeper in the school team thanks to the arrival of new striker Dorothy (Dee Hepburn). Gregory falls head over heels in love (unrequited) with the confident, focused and self-assured Dorothy – who possesses all the qualities he does not, either on or off the pitch.

Escape to Victory (1981)

With Escape to Victory, John Huston tied together two unlikely themes – association football and a prisoner of war camp. A group of Allied PoWs are recruited by Michael Caine’s character. These include Pelé, Bobby Moore, Ossie Ardiles and some of the 1978 Ipswich Town team that won the FA Cup along with Sylvester Stallone to play the Nazi German team in occupied Paris. Regardless of the fact that it’s a completely implausible plot it’s a great Sunday afternoon movie, especially with the final footballing scene where Stallone saves a penalty and Pelé wins the game with an impossible shot – the overhead kick.