To celebrate 30 years of their sports channel ESPN launched a series of documentaries put together by leading film makers. This award winning series has raised the bar in sports documentaries with the films focused far more on the human side of sports rather than the sporting achievements. The vast majority of the original series of films focused on american sports and I recommend the majority of these films even if you have no knowledge or love for US sports as the stories are compelling. As a prequel to the world cup ESPN are showing a handful of soccer related films and the majority are available on youtube. To keep our minds from the endless rumour mill I thought i would post the links to the different films. There are two feature length documentaries and seven 30 minute shorts(24mins without commercials) Feature Lengths Hillsborough There has been much reported and filmed on this subject before, but this tells the full story up until the 25 anniversary this year. Some of the images in this film are shocking. [video=youtube_share;nOjRk2dFRqs]http://youtu.be/nOjRk2dFRqs[/video] The Two Escobars This documentary is a few years old and was the only soccer related story which was part of the original 30 for 30 series. If you've never seen it before then this is probably the greatest football related documentary made and focuses on the connecting lives of Drug Lord Pablo Escobar & Colombian defender Andres Escobar. [video=youtube_share;6EilV9vgaEY]http://youtu.be/6EilV9vgaEY[/video] Shorts The Opposition Politics changed the outcome of a World Cup qualifier between the Soviet Union and Chile in 1973. [video=youtube_share;aatRmTAqmlA]http://youtu.be/aatRmTAqmlA[/video] Maradona '86 n the 1986 World Cup, Diego Maradona reached his apotheosis, redefining what is possible on the pitch. [video=youtube_share;2yBsxCpKM9Q]http://youtu.be/2yBsxCpKM9Q[/video] Ceasefire Massacre n 1994, Ireland played in a World Cup match in New Jersey, terrorists attacked fans at a tiny bar in Ireland. Decades later, family members still have questions. [video=youtube_share;izUeAIlHzME]http://youtu.be/izUeAIlHzME[/video] The Myth of Garrincha Mané Garrincha was told he wasn't physically fit to play pro soccer. He proved them wrong. [video=youtube_share;uHuEfrj8WAo]http://youtu.be/uHuEfrj8WAo[/video] Mysteries of the Rimet Trophy Ottorino Barassi, a mild-mannered Italian soccer official, tries to protect a valued treasure from the Nazis. [video=youtube_share;1ccssH-bRKU]http://youtu.be/1ccssH-bRKU[/video] Barbosa: The Man Who Made Brazil Cry In a play that lasted only moments, goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa forever earned the title: The man who made Brazil cry. [video=youtube_share;EechkJAZqZA]http://youtu.be/EechkJAZqZA[/video] White, Blue and White Ossie Ardiles left Argentina to play soccer in England. On April 2, 1982, Argentinian troops descended on the British-ruled Falkland Islands Yet to be aired
All of the 30 for 30 stories make brilliant viewing, you just need to be a sports fan to enjoy them rather than a US sports fan.
The Hillsborough one is a brilliant account and anyone who needs bringing up to speed with that terrible event should watch, accompanied by a box of hankies. In fact anyone who thinks they are familiar with all the ramifications of Hillsborough should watch it, because they with almost certainly find out something new. The background to Duckenfield being put in charge of policing Hillsborough only 3 weeks before April 15th 1989 is fascinating.
I must admit to have never watched any of the English TV documentaries and only a limited knowledge of the altered statements etc. but to think the whole thing could potentially have been avoided if the previous superintendent had remained in charge. Still the way football fans were treated back then if not Hillsborough then it probably would have happened eventually. So so sad
Exactly so. It was very much an element of the 1980's that football supporters began to be treated like cattle. I could make a reasonably convincing case for football supporters being synonymous with the working class of that era, who were treated just as poorly, but I'm not going to bring politics into it. Football supporters were noisy, mouthy, but generally reasonably well behaved, as they always have been. There was the angry section of supporters just as there are today. But in those days they put the fences and the barriers and they penned up people as if they were a herd. Football supporters were perceived as the lowest of the low. Penning and fencing off supporters was one of the reasons why I first stopped going to football matches. It made me feel disgusted that that was how people could be perceived and treated. Hillsborough was just a matter of time and seating was the very best answer to the situation. It automatically made football supporters perceived as customers as well as supporters, and made football stadiums much safer. Supporters today will imagine they know what it is like to be a part of a standing football crowd. What they will have no idea what it is like is being a part of a over-capacity football crowd that surges and squeezes individuals. As a kid, I was in a few standing over-capacity crowds where there were about a thousand or so too many. Not a big deal you might say, but I can tell you it was bloody frightening because you would have the breath squeezed out of you and you couldn't recover. This was before the days when the barriers went up so, for example, when Saints played ManU in front of an official 31,044 [1,044 over capacity] I was lifted by an unknown adult onto the top of the wall, to the right of the Archers Rd goal. About 10 or more were lifted up alongside me to sit on the wall, while the adults were able to stand behind/between us. Sensible, but it was yet again an earlier era. We were treated as people, not cattle.
BTW, the Garrincha documentary is pretty good too. Everyone knows about Pele, but the Little Bird is often forgotten these days. Some people say he was the greater footballer. He was certainly more in the mould of Maradona, but without the cheating.
Hilsborough was a horrible event , but i always found the Bradford fire the one that shocked me most .
Hillsborough could have happened anywhere in the '80's, it's true, anyone who went to football in that era will have their horror stories, I have my own. But what singled out that awful day wasn't just that 96 innocent people died who needn't have done, it was the systematic way the police and other authorities covered up their own incompetence and painted the Liverpool fans as the ones at fault.
That's the real crime and I hope those who authorised the statements to be amended are brought to justice and removed from the police force. One of the most emotive parts of this documentary is the Liverpool's fans reaction to the outrageous allegations of fans robbing corpses and urinating on police officers resuscitating the dying.
And I was annoyed its anniversary passed with almost no mention in the football world a week ago. Awful day.
There's no doubt he had a dark side. This is probably why he is often forgotten. An extremely flawed individual who was a genius on the football pitch.
Yes and the vast majority are on youtube too http://espn.go.com/30for30/index The above is the home website and you can view all the documentaries made and a brief synopsis
