There’s nothing better than sitting down on a Friday evening after a week of work, putting your feet up and watching a sports documentary.
We’re in a day and age when a new one lands almost every week, offering fresh insight into the world’s biggest stars, teams and sports. But what are the best?
We decided to delve into the world of sports documentaries on the likes of Netflix and Amazon to uncover our very favourites…
Table of Contents
Rooney
We all know about the Wayne Rooney on the pitch, and plenty off it too. This tells the inside story of his life.
It delves into a large amount of the detail, from his hobbies and interests such as boxing, and playing 777 live casino type games and heading on nights out to casinos with teammates.
It then delves into more personal aspects of his life, such as relationships, hard times and what lies ahead for the future, in what is an insightful and enjoyable few hours of documentary making.
The Battered Bastards Of Baseball
One of the most fun, heart-warming stories of professional sport comes from the Portland Mavericks, an independent baseball team that existed between 1973 and 1977.
Owned by Bing Russell, the film star and father of Kurt, the Mavericks were a bunch of misfits that had fallen out of the MLB and ended up in being given an opportunity to represent the city of Portland.
The Mavs were the only independent team in the division and captured the heart of the nation before the MLB came and shut it all down.
This documentary tales the tale of the short but incredible existence of the Portland Mavericks – the battered bastards of baseball.
Next Goal Wins
It’s time to watch Next Goal Wins if you haven’t already, before the feature film by Taika Waititi is released in the not too distant future.
The movie follows the American Samoa national football team in their 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign. The team, who had previously been beaten 31-0 by Australia in the heaviest defeat in international football history.
To help turn their fortunes around they hire the Dutch American coach Thomas Rongen, a man who saw a lot of success in the US and he sets about getting them into shape. A real star of the documentary is Jaiyah Saelua, the first transgender person to appear in a World Cup qualifier, while the whole team are ultimately passionate about their sport, highly motivated but lacking in talent. But can they qualify?
Athlete A
Athlete A on Netflix is a fantastic piece of investigative filmmaking that blows the lid off the culture of cruelty within the US gymnastics team.
The documentary follows the Indianapolis Star’s investigation into claims of abuse within USA Gymnastics and the sort of things that were going on within it.
Hundreds that have gone through the system have since spoken up about it, including Simone Biles, while a number of people that were part of the set-up have since been jailed in what is a truly jaw-dropping story.