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The 2017 Sports Documentaries that caught the eye

The last year has been another bumper one for excellent sports documentaries.  So we've pick...



The 2017 Sports Documentaries...
Other Sports

The 2017 Sports Documentaries that caught the eye

The last year has been another bumper one for excellent sports documentaries. 

So we've picked out a few of the ones that stood out... 

Les Bleus

Featuring contributions from high profile football figures like Eric Cantona, Arsene Wenger and Robert Pires among others as well as politicians like ex-French president Francois Hollande and comedians, writers and other luminaries, Les Bleus intertwines the highs and lows of France's national team with the fraying of the country's society.

In 1998, the Black, Blanc, Beur myth was forged as a multi-ethnic team won the World Cup on home soil and were credited with creating a societal harmony that simply did not exist. But by the time, Euro 2016 came around again on French soil, controversies on and off the field meant there was no disguising the fact that issues existed. As Cantona succintly puts it in the doc, the Black, Blanc, Beur factor is highlighted when France win and morphs into portraying the players - often from the suburbs and multi-ethnic backgrounds - as undesirables and trouble-makers when they lose. 

Icarus

A documentary that starts off with the simple premise of film-maker and amateur cyclist Bryan Fogel experimenting with doping in order to see what effect it has on performance and whether it's then subsequently possible to still avoid a negative test.

It then morphs into something completely different as he encounters Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Russia's anti-doping lab.

Prescient, given the turn of events which has seen the spotlight of doping scandals placed on Russia, Fogel's documentary, lifts the lid on murky undercurrents in the sporting landscape.

Fogel joined Ger on the show during the summer:

The 2017 Sports Documentaries that caught the eye

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Last Chance U

A series rather than a single documentary, Season 2 picked up from where the compelling Season 1 left us.

An on-field brawl after East Mississippi Community College American football team's final game in Season 1 turns the harsh spotlight on temperamental coach Buddy Stephens and his aggressive nature, while Brittany Wagner continues to be the force for good as the academic advisor who clearly cares for the players beyond their athletic potential.

Most of the central figures from Season 1 are replaced by new personalities all aspiring to get their American football careers back on track following their own individual mistakes and struggles.

Giles

An icon of the game in Ireland and for Leeds United fans, John Giles is the centre of the RTE One documentary that looks back on his life and career.

Even for those of us who know John's story intimately, the documentary showed the highly-respected pundit in full light and given how excellent it was, ended up being met with universal praise across the board.

89

Arsenal's long history has taken in Arsene Wenger's Invincibles and the Herbert Chapman years of the 1930s but one of the other glorious moments for English football's third most successful club was the gripping ending to the 1989 season.

With Arsenal legend Lee Dixon as executive producer, the documentary has been highly rated, lifting the lid on the stories that led to the Gunnes' final day victory over Liverpool at Anfield to snatch the title. 

Dixon joined Joe on the Football Show recently:

That's only a small selection of the documentaries that went down well during the year but there are far more besides. Tweet us in your favourites to @offtheballl...

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