Top 5 Football Documentaries on BBC iPlayer | OneFootball

GiveMeSport takes a look into the Top 5 Football Documentaries on BBC iPlayer. These documentaries vary from individual footballing personalities to football clubs.

1) Bury: Bringing Football Back

This documentary takes a look at one of the oldest clubs in English football.

Having been Bury’s pride and joy for 130 years, the club was expelled from the football league in 2020.

It looked as if the dream was over as there was no way of Bury returning to the football league with immediate effect, however in this unique documentary we follow the rebirth of Bury, even though they don’t have the finances or the reputation they used to, the fans decided to do anything to keep the club alive.

In this documentary, BBC Three follows Chris Murray and friends over a 12-month period granting behind the scenes access to a fan-owned football club, a new Bury FC.

Bury: Bringing Football Back is rated a 7.8/10 on IMDB.

2) Paul Merson: Football, Gambling & Me

Former England and Arsenal footballer Paul Merson discuss in this documentary his struggle with gambling problems. He vocalises the fortunes that he has gambled away while living the glamourous life of a Premier League footballer.

Documenting his path to recovery, Merson sets out to find out what it was or could be that ignited and catalysed his addiction to heights he thought he would never reach over the years.

Merson speaks to fellow former professional footballers in Keith Gillespie, John Hartson and Scott Davies who between them have gambled away an estimated £15million.

He also talks to scientific and psychological specialists who give their intake on what may be the initial step toward gambling addiction. Merson speaks about how gambling could become a worse problem for the younger generations due to more and more football shirts being sponsored by betting companies and outlets.

Paul Merson: Football, Gambling & Me is 7.7/10 on IMDB.

This four-part mini-series tells the tale of the formation of the biggest football league in the world, the English Premier League. Individuals who are elevated to greatness from this competition talk about the influence of the Premier League and how it transformed football into a billion-pound game.

The episodes reflect on the league in the early to mid-90s when the division was formed as this was the beginning of serious money being injected into football. Also, discussing and reflecting on some of the fiercest rivalries in football, from Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson to the competitive nature at Manchester United between friends Keith Gillespie and David Beckham.

It’s the narrative of where the shift in top-flight English football took place from 1992 onwards.

4) Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me

This documentary features former England and Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer. Shearer is the Premier League‘s all-time top goalscorer with 260 goals.

Shearer scored quite a few goals with his head, and he was curious about heading being a central component of being a striker and how dangerous it actually is, with a close connection to dementia.

Shearer goes on a journey to find out the truths regarding headers and dementia as a report showed that a number of the World Cup-winning England team in 1966 are suffering from the syndrome.

The former England forward talks to footballers past and present to get their verdict on the matter and also looks at the scientific research to get a better conclusion before revealing his overall findings to the footballing authorities.

Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me received a rating of 7.3/10 on IMDB.

5) Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism and Me

In this documentary, former professional footballer Anton Ferdinand goes on a journey to explore the issues of racial abuse in football.

Anton explains and explores from a personal perspective as he reflects on his own experience as a victim of racism during the controversy with John Terry back in 2011.

The journey in this documentary sees Anton try to understand his own story and find out what actions need to be put into place to prevent further abuse from occurring in the footballing world.

In this documentary, he also talks about the effect abuse on social media has had on his overall mental health as well as his career and life with his family.

Anton Ferdinand, Football, Racism and Me, received a good 6.9/10 on IMDB.