Northern Ireland v Switzerland 08SEPT

Liverpool and Ipswich Town star John Wark, fellow Ipswich alumni Russell Osman (the club having won the UEFA Cup the same year as the film’s release) and Man City and England’s Mike Summerbee. Four decades on and, much like the Allies on pitch and off, it’s still hard to beat . One obvious omission from the cast was, quite literally, the Best man at Summerbee’s wedding, our very own George Best . Just like Pelé, George had headed to the USA to capitalise on the nation’s late ’70s soccer boom. But the call mustn’t have come for the game’s biggest ever star to lace up his boots and star alongside his fellow players. Instead the film industry put George’s story front and centre in Best , with Newry native John Lynch in the title role. And therein lies the problem; as good an actor as he is, Lynch ain’t no Best when it comes to sheer charisma and those piercing blue eyes. It’s not easy playing a legend. Unless you are Michael Sheen, whose portrayal of Brian Clough in 2009’s The Damned United is a joy to behold. Covering Cloughie’s short , sharp tenureship as manager of Leeds United, the movie masterfully recreates the 1970s era as much as it captures the wonderfully toxic working relationship between Clough and his adversary Don Revie. As Michael (as Brian) says in the throes of battle: “I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the country but I’m in the top one.” You cannot better the original . A decade earlier and Nick Hornby’s seminal book, Fever Pitch, put the Library in Highbury with his autobiographical homage to his beloved Arsenal FC. The best-selling tome made a seamless transition from page to screen with the 1997 film of the same name. Starring Colin Firth as Paul Ashworth, a character based on Hornby, and his girlfriend Sarah, played by Ruth Gemmell , the film brought a female audience to a story spawned in male sport . The fact that Firth had wooed audiences as Mr Darcy in Pride And Prejudice just two years earlier, and Euro 96 had helped spark the ladette phenomenon, ensured Fever Pitch’s league position as the ultimate crossover footy chick flick. As its tagline attested… ‘Life gets complicated when you love one woman and worship 11 men’.

While women playing football in films, as opposed to watching from the sidelines or bewailing their bloke’s obsession, have been thin on the ground, two ground-breaking exceptions have successfully tackled this cinematic preconception. Bursting the misog ynistic bubble way before Keira Knightley bent it like a certain Man Utd superstar, Gregory’s Girl saw teenage footballer Dee Hepburn break John Gordon Sinclair’s heart in the Scottish 1980 coming-of-age romantic comedy. Hepburn honed her footy skills with Partick Thistle a mere 22 years before football and film collided to make Knightley a star. The 2002 smash Bend It Like Beckham follows football infatuated British Indian Sikh Jess, played by Parminder Nagra, and her teammate Jules (Knightley) as they each find personal empowerment through football in this heart- warming film that became a surprise box office success - despite David B’s wooden cameo. And it’s not just the big screen embracing the pride, passion and prowess of female players. With women’s football firmly in the ascendancy, and our Northern Ireland ladies heading to the Women’s 2022 Euros, Derry Girls mammy Tara Lynne O’Neill is bringing her prescient passion project Rough Girls to Belfast’s Lyric Theatre this month. Based on true events, her musical play tells the story of Belfast’s first all-female football team who, against a barrage of cultural opposition, played matches to raise money for returning WW1 soldiers. The Lyric hopes this enlightening tale will “bring the arts to sports fans and sport to arts lovers”. If the history of football and film is anything to go by they could well be pushing an open door. After all , drama on the field of play is what keeps us coming back for more. They don’t call Old Trafford the Theatre of Dreams for nothing. Extracting emotions and sharing in the highs and lows is what it’s all about . Even this very programme showcases an ensemble cast and crew who have trained for months to bring you tonight’s main feature. Let’s just hope our star players raise the roof and have us booking our tickets for the equally successful sequel . Image: some members of the cast of Rough Girls with Jimmy Fay, the Lyric Theatre’s artistic director. The play, which tells the story of Belfast’s first all-female football team, is being staged at the Belfast venue this month.

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