BT Sport Films are a series of feature-length sports documentary films airing on the British subscription sports channels BT Sport. While the majority of films are about football, other sports covered include rugby, cricket, boxing, UFC, judo, speedway and MotoGP.
In July 2023, TNT Sports replaced BT Sport[1][2] but repeats of BT Sport Films continue to be shown, alongside new films, under the banner of TNT Sports Films.
Background
The initial run of seven films was conceived prior to the launch of BT Sport in 2013, with the first film being shown on the channel's third day on air.[3] The commissioning editors for the series have been Jamie Hindhaugh, Barry Andrews, Sally Brown, Simon Green and Grant Best.
On most occasions, the first transmission of a film will be commercial-free, with versions including commercial breaks used for subsequent broadcasts. The films are shown on the BT Sport channels alongside documentaries from ESPN, including 30 for 30, Nine for IX, SEC Storied and Backstory, as well as official MotoGP films. In 2015, the channel also had a season of Warren Millerski and snowboarding films.
List of films
No.
Title
Directed by
Original release date
1
UFC: The Story So Far
Adam Darke
August 3, 2013 (2013-08-03)
A look at the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, telling the story of the sport's creation and its growth into a global sporting enterprise.
Former England rugby union hooker Brian Moore looks back to the hard playing, hard drinking, win-at-all-costs mentality of sport in the 1970s and '80s and comparing it to what some would term the more sanitised world of modern sport.
Journeyman boxer Johnny Greaves is followed as he works towards 100 professional fights, accepting fights at short notice and for little money to provide for his young family.
7
O Arise, All You Sons
Adam Darke
December 25, 2013 (2013-12-25)
A look at how cricket united one of the most dangerous, disparate and poverty stricken countries on earth and gave the people of Papua New Guinea purpose and identity.
Using interviews, archive footage and animated scenes, the story of Wimbledon's unlikely rise from non-league obscurity to winning the 1988 FA Cup Final in less than a decade.[7]
Thirty years on from witnessing the Valley Parade fire first-hand as a child, Gabby Logan remembers one of the worst disasters in English football history in a poignant documentary.[9]
In the third of the Football Outposts series, Tom Watt travels to clubs that were once giants of European football including Nottingham Forest, Aberdeen and Steaua Bucharest.[12]
18
Rocky & Wrighty: From Brockley To The Big Time
Tom Boswell
January 4, 2017 (2017-01-04)
A look at how childhood friends David Rocastle and Ian Wright, one a teenage prodigy and the other a late bloomer, went on to become Arsenal legends.[13]
A look at how the Australian media mogul Kerry Packer's controversial breakaway World Series Cricket changed the game of cricket.[17]
23
No Hunger in Paradise
Tom Boswell
January 7, 2018 (2018-01-07)
Based on his book of the same name, Michael Calvin examines football's academy system, talking to players who have and have not found success as well as the children starting out in the system.[18]
Premiered on the centenary of armistice, this film tells the story of Corinthian Football Club, once one of the game's greatest teams, and how a 1914 tour of Brazil was cut short by World War I before a ball could be kicked. The modern-day amateur players of Corinthian-Casuals return to complete the visit and play their namesakes, the rich and successful SC Corinthian Paulista.[22]
An insight into how the 1980s success of Liverpool's two biggest football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, contrasted with the post-industrial decline of the city itself under the Thatcher government.[24]
31
State Of Play
Tom Boswell
May 29, 2019 (2019-05-29)
Based on the book of the same name by Michael Calvin, this follow-up to No Hunger in Paradise looks at a range of current issues in football, including mental health, homophobia and racism, the rise of women's football, head injuries and the financial state of smaller clubs.[25]
David Ginola tells the story of Jean-Marc Bosman, a little-known footballer who left a permanent mark on the game with the Bosman ruling, a landmark judgment which changed the football transfer rules in Europe but, despite his victory, saw the end of his career.[31]
A look at the life and career of motor cycling legend Barry Sheene.[44]
Short films
Four half-hour films have been made under the BT Sport Films Shorts banner. These initial four films were made using unused material from State of Play.
State of Play: The Player
State of Play: The Manager
State of Play: The Club
State of Play: Society
BT Sport Films Club
In December 2020, nine short interstitials titled BT Sport Films Club were aired, featuring presenter Craig Doyle discussing the films Brothers in Football, The Crazy Gang, Greavsie, Cornered, Rocky and Wrighty, Team of the Eighties, No Hunger in Paradise, Shoulder to Shoulder and The Gaffer, promoting the availability of the films on demand. These broadcast whenever a BT Sport channel had time in hand, for example, if live broadcasts of WWE Raw, WWE NXT or Australian A-League football had finished early. BT Sport Films Club was discontinued when BT Sport rebranded to TNT Sports in 2023.
Critical response
The series has had a generally good reception from critics.
The Daily Telegraph said that Rocky & Wrighty was "a fitting tribute to the much-loved [David] Rocastle",[45] while the same newspaper described Golazzo: The Football Italia Story as a "terrific documentary" and "well worth a watch."[46]
Shoulder to Shoulder attracted a "phenomenal response on social media" according to the Irish Mirror,[47] with The Irish Times calling it a "compelling documentary."[48]
On Brothers in Football, The Sportsman said "for any devoted football fanatic this is a must-watch".[49] The Liverpool Echo said Two Tribes was "evocative, poignant and stirring", capturing "a remarkable snapshot in time."[50]
