What Are The Best Football Documentaries Ever?

What Are The Best Football Documentaries Ever?

Football has seen some truly gripping documentaries emerge over the years, and in recent times they have undergone increasing exposure thanks to digital streaming services, as well as garnering added attention thanks to the massive production budgets we now see in the modern day.

Whether it's insight that you cannot achieve simply by watching a match on TV, or true stories that leave you in disbelief, there's never a dull moment when the sport we all love is involved. Football Park are taking a look at the best there has ever been down the years.

Welcome to Wrexham (2022 - Present)

Who would've thought that Wrexham would now be in the Championship just four years after a certain Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds became their new owners?

A team that were run by the fans and on the brink of going bust were saved by the Hollywood stars, who guided them to promotion in the National League in their first full season with the Welsh side.

Prepare yourself for a night of squeaky bums! Welcome to Wrexham's season 2 finale airs tonight at 10 p.m. on FX. pic.twitter.com/oMoOlrUkhk

— Welcome to Wrexham (@WrexhamFX) November 14, 2023

Documenting their meteoric rise every step of the way, 'Welcome To Wrexham' quickly became hailed as a huge success, receiving huge praise and attention.

The light hearted approach makes it unique to similar concepts and it portrays the owners as ordinary people just with extraordinary backgrounds.

The love they now possess for the town and for the club is evident. It has attracted huge droves of tourists to visit Wrexham, and has placed the club firmly on the footballing map. The team's success has only contributed to the series' success and made it a thrilling watch for all football fans.

Sunderland 'Til I Die (2018 - Present)

The Black Cats have made an impressive start back to life in the top flight after almost a decade away. This documentary demonstrated exactly what the club means to the fans. Their continued support that they showed towards their team despite dropping down to the third tier has to be admired.

The series deep dives into the lives of some of Black Cats' most committed fans, who were forced to sit through their team finishing bottom of the Premier League and then bottom of the Championship in successive seasons.

It also documents the takeover that saw a Swiss-French businessman by the name of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus invest in a minority stake of the club in 2021, before gradually increasing his share further in the years since.

#SAFC today announces that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has increased his shareholding in the Club to 64%, with Juan Sartori increasing his stake to 36%.

📰👇

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) May 27, 2023

This takeover made Louis-Dreyfus the youngest chairman that English football had ever seen at just 23 years old. Since then, the club's financial troubles have been vaporised, and the club has undergone a remarkable turn in fortunes, witnessing two promotions in four seasons back to the Premier League.

The final series follows Sunderland's League One play-off triumph, which kickstarted their journey back to the pinnacle of English football.

The Rescue (2021)

This true story of twelve schoolboys and their coach being trapped inside a flooded cave in Thailand captured the attention of everyone when it appeared on national news.

When the local football team, creatively named the Wild Boars, decided to explore the caves one day in 2018, a sudden storm hit and subsequently blocked the exit route to the outside.

They had just finished their football practice, and it was a common occurrence for the team to ride their bicycles to the caves to explore them afterwards. A team tradition was for new team members to write their names on the cave walls deep inside.

The Thaum Lueng cave they were exploring is the fourth biggest in Thailand, and is a very popular landmark to visit. However, during the monsoon season, the caves can rapidly fill with water and become a very dangerous place.

After not returning home that night, concerns were raised and the parents discovered the boys plans to visit the caves from a team group chat conversation earlier that day.

Boys rescued from Thai cave welcomed by Manchester United https://t.co/obcK35wEbg pic.twitter.com/cu8EbIa909

— CNN (@CNN) October 28, 2018

Sure enough, search teams found the bicycles and bags outside the cave entrance and contacted the local authorities. The film documents how Thai divers were assisted by aid from Europe and the US, as the search was such a monumental task and there was real doubt that it was even possible.

After one week of searching for the stranded boys with no food and limited water supply, they were finally found by two UK divers. Stranded on a ledge, 4km into the cave, all thirteen were still alive. The rescue mission is explained in this documentary and it was anything but straightforward.

All Or Nothing (2018 - 2022)

The All or Nothing series made for great viewing. Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal have all had their own series made under the same umbrella name.

It opened the window into manager conversations with players in ways that had rarely been seen before. We also got to see one-on-one chats with players, dressing room bust-ups and workings on the training pitch, like a fly on the wall.

Confirmed: @Arsenal will be the next team featured in Amazon's 'All or Nothing' series 📽️ pic.twitter.com/0W9KsYceHg

— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) July 9, 2021

There have been some memorable moments from each of the three series that streaming giants Amazon have produced around some of England's greatest clubs.

Jose Mourinho could be seen giving Dele Alli a heart to heart talk of having no regrets. There was an angry Pep Guardiola demanding that 'Nobody Talk!' during half-time in the dressing room. And the Arsenal series shows boss Mikel Arteta lose his voice due to a passionate speech to his players.

It is moments like these that fans find fascinating, getting a glimpse into how things are done behind the scenes of an elite level sports team.

This has only seen the connection between the club and their fans deepen, as they are closer to the action than ever before, as the series helped better their understanding of the way in which managers and players think and feel on a day-to-day basis.

Warnock (2005)

The Sheffield United documentary, which followed now-retired manager Neil Warnock, is now considered TV gold.

It was really the first of its kind and is now two decades old. It brandished an unfiltered Warnock moaning and groaning on just about everything.

Just some of the highlights included bust-ups with officials, his own players and, of course, the opposition. It illustrated a clear contrast with the now modern documentary style, as it shows examples of a true old-fashioned manager and how he would communicate with his team.

Their are many famous clips that still resurface to this day from the film that followed the Blades 2004/2005 Championship campaign where they finished in 8th place.

A Blade born-and-bred, all at Bramall Lane would like to wish Neil Warnock all the very best in his retirement from the game.

Thanks for all the memories Neil, enjoy your retirement! #SUFC 🔴

— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) April 11, 2022

Features in the film included the likes of a young Phil Jageilka, Chris Kamara and Tony Pulis. Earlier this year Jagielka spoke to EFL Unfiltered about his time under Warnock, saying on the podcast - 'I thought that was the norm for a manager!' It was certainly an eye-opener for the former Everton skipper, who was just starting out in his career at the time.

One of the funniest segments in the film, is when Warnock's men played against Millwall and Phil Jagielka was forced to play the second-half in goal as keeper Paddy Kenny was the victim of a headbutt from Kevin Muscat, with Kenny retaliating resulting in both players being sent off.

With no goalkeeper named on the bench the centre-half would play the rest of the game in goal. Sheffield United somehow went on to win the game with Warnock entering the field of play to tell the opposition players - "Serves you right for Muscat."

Class of '92: Full Time (2017 - Present)

In 2014 a certain group of players, formerly made famous from their time at a little club known as Manchester United, invested in then eighth tier Northern Premier side Salford City.

It was a huge gamble at the time. However, it has since paid off, as the club found instant success, gaining four promotions in five seasons. They've since run into a stumbling block, however, and have been in League Two for six consecutive seasons.

They came closest to gaining promotion from the division in 2022/23 finishing a point out of the play-off places. The series that began eight years ago, focuses on all the aspects of running a football club.

There is fascinating insight into the recruitment process of how the owners go about signing players. But above anything else, it is the passion that the former Red Devils stars show towards the club that resonates most with the everyday football fan.

Class of '92: Full Time 🍿

Coming 🔜 on @SkySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/KbHVzPRYzB

— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) November 13, 2022

There are opportunities for viewers to learn about some of the squad's journey through the professional game, and it underlined that some players do not have it quite so easy as others, often suffering many setbacks, such as being released from bigger clubs.

It gives viewers the opportunity to see conversations that owners have with managers about club expectations - in the more recent series, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville expressed their excitement about appointing Karl Robinson as manager, who came in with a Championship pedigree and had a positive impact last season.

The Ammies had a slight change in their ownership structure in May this year. The new board led by David Beckham and Gary Neville is now assisted by a US consortium made up of businessmen Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies.

Football's Most Dangerous Rivalry (2012)

This film follows the fierce rivalry between Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers. The two bitter foes, who are located in Glasgow, have expressed a true hatred towards one another dating back many years. The 'Old Firm' Derby has long been known as one of the most fiery in world football.

One reason for the mutual dislike is that the clubs are situated so close to one another, but the other stems from their contrasting religious beliefs. Rangers are a largely Protestant community, whereas Celtic are Catholic, only adding to the animosity held between the clubs.

The documentary focuses on the rivalry from a fan's perspective and alludes to the element of hooliganism surrounding the fixture and the trouble that occurs between the contesting football firms.

An Old Firm Derby CLASSIC ends 3-3 after Matondo’s 93rd minute equaliser 🤯🔥pic.twitter.com/WJgP4P2KgQ

— SPORTbible (@sportbible) April 7, 2024

There are details around the political views of both sets of fans and how this translates to supporting their football club, while the film also touches on racial slurs, violence and anti-social behaviour.

On a more positive note, it also exhibits the culture of music in Glasgow and how the fans like to combine that with chants about their teams, signified in the segment of Celtic fans travelling away to Dundee United.

To this day the rivalry is intense, so much so that in 2023, both clubs confirmed that no away fans would be allowed to attend the fixture to avoid fighting in and around the stadium. The allocation for away fans has since been changed to 4% as of last season, BBC confirmed.