We English are extremely passionate and territorial about our national sport. Even as an Englishman who started following my home club, Ipswich Town, over 30 years ago, it still surprises me how much football permeates our culture whenever I take a trip back to the UK. Almost any social interaction, whether it is small talk with the owner of a corner shop or the preamble to a business meeting, usually involves a little footy banter.
Football, aka soccer, took its modern form when the Football Association laid down the rules in 1863. The first English Football League season followed in 1888, a 12-team competition that saw Preston North End crowned champions. The English take a nostalgic pride in giving football to the world, although our national team has long been eclipsed by other nations who have refined and perfected the game. Even so, we still like to think that our long history of...
Football, aka soccer, took its modern form when the Football Association laid down the rules in 1863. The first English Football League season followed in 1888, a 12-team competition that saw Preston North End crowned champions. The English take a nostalgic pride in giving football to the world, although our national team has long been eclipsed by other nations who have refined and perfected the game. Even so, we still like to think that our long history of...
- 3/15/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Exclusive: It isn’t quite “could Batman beat up Superman?” but it’s close. English Rugby legend Clive Woodward is partnering with Sharp Entertainment to settle one of the all-time great hypothetical sports fights with Football V Rugby, a hybrid documentary series and global live event that will see whether American footballers can defeat pro Rugby Union players at their own sport. Conceived of as part social experiment and part athletic contest, Football V Rugby will…...
- 8/4/2016
- Deadline TV
In 2003 the England won the Rugby Union World Cup, capping years of development that transformed the sport from amateur pursuit to a game dominated by honed professionals. Director James Erskine talked to the team’s stars, including Jonny Wilkinson, captain Martin Johnson and coach Clive Woodward, to find out how they came to rule rugby. Andrew Pulver explains why you should put Erskine’s documentary into touch
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- 9/1/2015
- by Andrew Pulver and Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Documentary-maker James Erskine uncovers the human stories behind the rejuvenation of English rugby that led to World Cup victory
The latest sports doc from the industrious James Erskine zeroes in on that mid-90s moment when English rugby union was converted from hidebound amateur pursuit to the better organised proposition that carried home the 2003 World Cup.
Again, Erskine’s broadly conventional method involves informed talking heads casting light on carefully sourced archive: bluff warrior Martin Johnson represents the old school, pensive Jonny Wilkinson the new wave. Yet he’s becoming more adept at juggling the micro (analysis of coach Clive Woodward’s myriad one-yard gains) with the macro (discussing the mixed bag of Murdoch money) and retains his knack for uncovering the human stories behind these gamechangers: Johnson’s excitement at receiving a free mobile from sponsors soon subsided when he realised nobody else had one to call.
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The latest sports doc from the industrious James Erskine zeroes in on that mid-90s moment when English rugby union was converted from hidebound amateur pursuit to the better organised proposition that carried home the 2003 World Cup.
Again, Erskine’s broadly conventional method involves informed talking heads casting light on carefully sourced archive: bluff warrior Martin Johnson represents the old school, pensive Jonny Wilkinson the new wave. Yet he’s becoming more adept at juggling the micro (analysis of coach Clive Woodward’s myriad one-yard gains) with the macro (discussing the mixed bag of Murdoch money) and retains his knack for uncovering the human stories behind these gamechangers: Johnson’s excitement at receiving a free mobile from sponsors soon subsided when he realised nobody else had one to call.
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- 8/27/2015
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
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