It’s always doubly pleasurable to watch your favourite pastime unfold on the silver screen. Just as the best gambling movies are able to capture the thrill and adrenaline of visiting a casino and placing a bet, so too do the best films about football recall the sheer joy of celebrating a last-gasp winner and savouring the moment your team overcomes the odds.
Of course, it can’t be denied that although many filmmakers have attempted to recreate the magic of the terraces, there are more failures than successes in that respect.
However, we’ve done our best to compile a shortlist of some of the best movies about football that are not only a delight for fans to take in, but genuinely strong pieces of cinema in their own right.
Looking for Eric
This 2009 dramedy from cult director Ken Loach focuses on a postman who finds his life spiralling out of control and finds some form of stability in the shape of his footballing hero, Eric Cantona. As well as a fantastic performance from Steve Evets in the lead role, the one-time Manchester United superstar also makes an appearance in this heartstring-tugging exploration of social inequality and depression through the prism of the beautiful game.
Eric Cantona lifts the Premier League trophy. pic.twitter.com/pclHs7lTN8
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) March 29, 2022
Mean Machine
Another ex-footballer is the star of this 2001 comedy crime caper from director Barry Skolnick, as Vinnie Jones plays a disgraced professional footballer who is sent to jail for assault. Indignant at the injustice and abuse he finds rampant throughout life on the inside, he inspires a team of convicts to overcome their bullying wardens on the field of play and take back some much-needed pride for himself and his charges.
Mike Bassett: England Manager
After the sudden death of the England manager, the FA are on the lookout for a new boss to steer the team to World Cup success.
But with all of the frontrunners for the job convinced that it’s a poisoned chalice (in perhaps more ways than one), it falls to foul-mouthed lager lout Mike Bassett (Ricky Tomlinson) to bring his boorish behaviour and unorthodox methods to the touchline. At once hilarious and heart-warming, it’s a rare triumph of a footballing comedy.
🎬 Casting Tomlinson over Coogan – and his one-take half-time rant
🇧🇷 The Backstreet Boys problem at the Maracana
🇬🇷 Why Beckham’s free-kick against Greece saved the film
🤭 Making Pele laugh too much@NickMiller79 on the Making of Mike Bassett: England Manager— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) March 24, 2022
Green Street
This gritty drama unearths the underbelly of football, as Elijah Wood stars as a Harvard undergraduate who was unfairly expelled from his course. Seeking a fresh start across the Atlantic, he slowly becomes sucked into the murky underworld of football hooliganism in London and finds he has a taste for the violence that comes as part and parcel of his new community. An unflinching look at man’s darker side.
The Damned United
Slightly different from all the other entries on this list in that it’s a dramatization of real-life events, The Damned United tells the story of Brian Clough’s ill-fated time in charge of Leeds United in 1974. The controversial and abrasive manager took umbrage at his new team’s uncompromising and aggressive style of play, resulting in a turbulent tenure that lasted a mere 44 days in total. A gem of footballing history on screen.
Do you agree with our selections? Which movies would you count among the top football films of all time?
