Top Ten: Football Films

Escape to Victory © Copyright Warner Bros.

Ahead of the release of The Damned United, an adaptation of David Peace's acclaimed novel of the same name, Alex Dunn takes a look back at football's forays onto the silver screen. Oscars may be conspicuous only by absence but football and film have never been shy bed-fellows.

Escape to Victory

Any film that allows Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles and Pele to share screen time with Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone works for me. It doesn't take Mark Kermode to realise football films just don't get any better than this. Set in a German prison camp during World War II, it's basically The Great Escape with footballers. Caine plays a former West Ham star turned coach who can't believe his luck when Pele, Ossie, Moore and Kazimierz Deyna turn out to be more than useful squaddies. An exhibition game with the Germans provides the perfect opportunity for the Allies to escape through the bath at half-time, only for Russell Osman - yes, THE Russell Osman - to pitch up with 'But we can win this' and professional pride takes over. Bonus points for those of you that can spot cameo appearances from John Wark, Soren Lindsted, Paul Van Himst, Werner Roth, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thorsesen, Kevin O'Callaghan, Co Prins, Laurie Sivell, Robin Turner, Kevin Beattie and Paul Cooper.

ID

Although responsible for spawning the shower of excrement that is keeping Danny Dyer in work despite the fact he has only just learnt to clap, ID is a hooligan film that doesn't require a subscription to Nuts to appreciate. Directed by Quadrophenia mainstay Phil Davis, the film centres on the infiltration of a hooligan firm by four police officers. The Shadwell Town faithful are in the words of Dyer 'proper naughty' and it's not long before one of the coppers becomes too immersed with those he has been sent in to expose. A Shadwell tattoo soon decorates the protagonist's derriere before a fatal stabbing and flirtation with Neo-Nazism completes his troubled metamorphosis. It was never likely to trouble the Academy Awards but compared to the likes of Green Street and Football Factory, it's the genre's Citizen Kane.

Fever Pitch

Nick Hornby's debut was first published in 1992 and continues to polarise opinion. Fever Pitch, along with Pete Davies' All Played Out, was not embarrassed by its literacy ambition and was soon the subliminal text of a time when football became fashionable again after the doldrum years of the eighties. The terrace culture depicted by Hornby became an unlikely subject for dissection at dinner parties, as the likes of Damon Albarn downed guitars, dropped h's and pledged allegiance to the beautiful game. The film, which stars the world's most middle class man, Colin Firth, failed to placate those lamenting the changing face of a game that in their opinion didn't need changing. Still, while the human love story is superfluous, overall it's a fair attempt at depicting why grown men sulk when one group of millionaires fails to beat another.

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery

One of the first English films to feature football as a central theme, this 1939 mystery thriller has more than a little charm. Filmed at Highbury and including cameos from former Gunners favourites Cliff Bastin and Eddie Hapgood, the Arsenal Stadium Mystery centres on a friendly match between the North London outfit and fictional side The Trojans. The game comes to a standstill when one of the Trojan players drops dead; before Detective Inspector Slade (Leslie Banks) is called in to investigate claims of foul play. The Arsenal manager of the time George Allison had a speaking part in the film, while Brentford provided body doubles for the Trojan side. To find out if it really was Gus Ceaser, in the Library, via poison, you'll have to watch the film.

Mike Bassett: England manager

Steve Barron's fly-on-the wall mockumentary charts the improbable rise of First Division manager Mike Bassett to the England job. Bassett, played by Ricky Tomlinson, plays a stereotypical old-fashioned manager picked to take the game's 'top job' when the England boss suffers a heart attack during World Cup qualification. With the best manager in the land a Scot, the Brian Clough figure passed over - just as he was in real life - and none of the other Premier League managers interested, the mysterious men at the Football Association are forced to delve into the Football League. Once instated Bassett and his merry band of misfits, which include a Psycho-style centre-back, a playboy midfielder and an alcoholic from the North East, scrape through to the World Cup finals courtesy of Luxembourg's shock win over Turkey. Drunken debauchery, brawling and inevitable underachievement follow, with ridicule always at its heart. And the film certainly does have a heart. Tomlinson's portrayal of the foul-mouthed, patriotic, and yet somehow endearing, halfwit makes this a truly engaging satire of the modern game.

Shaolin Soccer

As much as it pains me to recommend a football film that refers to the beautiful game as 'soccer', it seems only fair to include at least one effort from outside the English speaking world. Consider this our Dong Fangzhou to Manchester United moment if you will - it comes with a great reputation from Asia but struggled to adapt on foreign soil. Co-written and directed by Stephen Chow, the story follows the life of a former Shaolin monk who uses football to bring Shaolin Kung Fu to the masses. Team Shaolin is formed and, relying on the herculean abilities of stars like 'Mighty Steel Leg', supreme aerial man 'Iron Head' and goalkeeper 'Empty Hand' the side goes on to take the Chinese League by storm. This tongue in cheek pastiche may have lost far too many of its subtleties in translation, but it set the bar at the time in the Hong Kong film industry. It went on to become the highest grossing film in the territory's history in 2001, where it remained until 2004 when Chow's superior offering Kung Fu Hustle came out to take the title of Box Office king.

Zidane: A 21st century portrait

Artist and film-maker Douglas Gordon's portrait of a football legend is arguably film's first arthouse football feature. Seventeen synchronised cameras are trained on the then Real Madrid playmaker for the duration of a Primera Liga game with Villarreal. The football is very much secondary as the focus of the camera follows Zidane's every nuance, as the narrative of the game is lost to its subject. Mike Bassett this isn't. A beguiling soundtrack is provided by Scottish post-rock outfit Mogwai, while subtitled quotes from Zidane offer morsels of philosophy from a player who remains poker-faced throughout. A red card towards the game's close provides a menace that has always been a facet of the player's fractious make-up.

Gregory's Girl

Set in director Bill Forsyth's native Scotland, this 1981 hit is a quintessential coming-of-age romantic comedy. Starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan (who went on to play Ian Beale's love interest Ros Thorne), Gregory's Girl was ranked 30th in the British Film Institute's list of the top 100 British films. Gregory Underwood, a typically gauche and awkward teenager, plays for his struggling school side. When their exasperated coach sets up trials for new players he finds himself usurped as a centre-forward in favour of Dorothy (Hepburn) - who brushes off initial scepticism and sexism to establish herself as a key player. Gregory, Dorothy and Grogan's character, Susan, become embroiled in a love triangle as Forsyth's light but refreshing comedy eventually sees football play second fiddle to adolescent lust.

When Saturday Comes

Falling into the 'so bad, it's good category' When Saturday Comes is a feature length cliché that stars Sean Bean playing himself. The professional Yorkshireman is cast as the archetypal talented but flawed amateur player who spends more time in the bookies and the boozer than on the training field. Jimmy Muir is a factory worker who plies his trade at the weekend for Hallam FC, where his goalscoring exploits are spotted by Sheffield United. Pete Postlethwaite plays the local scout who is repeatedly let down by Muir's inability to grasp his unexpected shot at the big time, with boozy bravado often used to cover his insecurities about making the grade. Mel Sterland plays Sheffield United's belligerent captain, who is on the receiving end of a Muir head-butt, before an FA Cup tie with Manchester United cues emotive music and a dramatic winner off the substitutes' bench. Bramall Lane legend Tony Currie also features, while the soundtrack was provided by Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.

Bend it like Beckham

Directed by Gurinder Chadha this 2002 release provided a lucky break for Keira Knightley as it went on to critical and commercial success. Centring on the experience of Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), the film explores her desire to become a footballer despite pressure from her British Indian parents to engage in more academic pursuits. After a succession of trials, tribulations and family feuds, Jesse is eventually spotted by an American scout and offered a place on the Santa Clara University soccer team in the United States. All Saints' Shaznay Lewis has a role in the film, while David Beckham and his wife Victoria figure in cameos.