Beckham: 8 football documentaries to watch if you liked Netflix’s docu-series on David Beckham

Netflix premiered the highly-anticipated docu-series titled Beckham on David Beckham, who is arguably one of the biggest sporting icons of all time. Stories about footballers are often just as surreal as fictional stories in film and television, so it is understandable why the mercurial lives of football stars attract the interest of documentary filmmakers. For today’s List Hai Toh Hit Hai podcast, we take a look at some of the best football documentaries available to stream online.

Football's Most Dangerous Rivalry - YouTube

Club football rivalries in certain parts of the globe extend beyond mere bragging rights. In places like Spain, the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is rooted in decades of strife as a result of the Spanish Civil War. Real Madrid represented the capitalist dictatorship of Madrid, while Barcelona symbolised the Catalan separatist movement. But this is a rivalry between two major regions of Spain. The Old Firm derby, however, is a rivalry between two ethnic groups within the city of Glasgow in Scotland – between Celtic and Rangers. The documentary Football's Most Dangerous Rivalry, explores the sectarian divided, intense, and at times, violently competitive relationship between Protestant Rangers fans and Irish Catholic fans of Celtic.

Sunderland Til' I Die  - Netflix

The 2018 documentary Sunderland Til’ I Die is widely regarded as one of the most compelling football documentaries ever created. The docu-series follows the remarkable journey of some of the most passionate and loyal fans in England, who follow their beloved Sunderland AFC through thick and thin. The documentary highlights the pain endured by the city as the club suffered back-to-back relegations.

Rooney - Prime Video

“Hated, adored, but never ignored.” This is a line often used by Manchester United fans to describe their club. The same could be said about former Man Utd and England captain Wayne Rooney. Unlike his fellow countryman Beckham, Rooney was hardly considered a style icon, but his sheer ability propelled him to become a generational talent, whose greatness is only overshadowed by the near-inhuman performances of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Prime Video documentary titled Rooney explores the incredible career of Wayne Rooney.

All Or Nothing Series - Prime Video

Sir Alex Ferguson refers to the football dressing room as sacrosanct – no one is allowed to be in there apart from the players and staff. However, Prime Video somehow convinced some of the biggest clubs in the world to let cameras into team meetings and training sessions, to get exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of players and managers interacting before and after some of the biggest games. Each season, the All or Nothing crew follows a particular team through a season, and the one featuring the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho and his Tottenham Hotspur side is arguably the best.

Diego Maradona - Hungama Play

One of the most documented football careers of all time might be that of the Argentinian legend Diego Maradona. Widely regarded as the greatest of all time by many, Maradona’s life features all the ingredients for film and television and has therefore unsurprisingly spawned several dramatised recreations of his life and career. The 2019 documentary is possibly the most balanced examination of the enigmatic life of Maradona.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In - Jio Cinema

Widely regarded as the one of greatest, if not the greatest, managers of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson established a footballing dynasty that dominated English football for over two decades, propelling Manchester United as the undisputed football clubs of England. The decline of Manchester United since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 and their current struggles are only a testament to his greatness. The documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In follows the extraordinary journey of the Scottish manager, from guiding Aberdeen to domestic and European silverware, whilst dethroning both Celtic and Rangers in the process, to guiding Manchester United to an unprecedented 20 League titles.

The Class of ‘92 - Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon Prime, YouTube

The fabled Class of ‘92 was the group of Manchester United Academy graduates who were instrumental in Manchester United’s dominance in the ‘90s, despite Liverpool legend Alan Hansen infamously quoting; “ You can’t win anything with kids.” The documentary The Class of ‘92, tells the story of how Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Philip and Gary Neville, and David Beckham went on to become legends of the sport.

I Believe in Miracles - Amazon Prime

When former Treble-winning Manchester United captain Roy Keane was asked who he considered to be the greatest manager he played under, he stunned everyone by crediting Brian Clough. It is hard to argue with the Irishman as Clough was truly one of a kind. Clough famously guided the relative minnows Derby County to League titles before astonishingly bagging back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest. Clough's story about his brief stint as the manager of Leeds United was made into a feature film titled The Damned United, with Michael Sheen playing Clough. The documentary I Believe in Miracles focuses on the period in Clough’s life when he took on the arduous task of guiding the underdogs Nottingham Forest to consecutive European Cups.

Well that's all we got for this episode, until the next one it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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Written by Ryan Gomez