Escape to solid 0-0 draw - Football on the silver screen

Football would make an ideal subject for a film. Unpredictable, filled with great characters, and the wardrobe has been sorted by someone else... But so far, good films about footy have been few and far between - and even then, the Oscar isn't coming any time soon.

But some of the better films have come from either different sources (books), different styles (documentary) or remake. There is a massive gap there for the fictional film, which to be fair, is missing from most team sports.

But what of the films that have already been made?

That was a save for the cameras...

Escape to Victory came to our Bank Holiday screens in the early 80s. It featured Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, and also some of the world's best footballers (Pele, Bobby Moore, John Wark?!), what's not to like? It's amazing they've not remade it already with Daniel Craig and David Beckham. There was a plot about escaping from the Nazis, but of course the selling point is Stallone in goal for the POWs, and a chance to see Pele on a big screen performing, unlike the medicine he has now resorted to selling...

Moody Frenchman shock

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait came from a different angle. Essentially just a promotion for Sky's Player-cam, it follows Zidane through a Real Madrid match at the Bernabeu against Villarreal in 2005. It was amazingly well received, but would it have worked any differently with another player? Would people fawn over Eboue: The Musical? Or perhaps 90 minutes of watching John Terry try to keep his footing... Great date movie though.

Pre-Oscar Firth pays his dues

Fever Pitch the book was amazing, even championed by non-Arsenal fans. It told the story of a boy becoming a man, using the backdrop of football and culture. The film came out in the late 1990s, starring Colin Firth, and became a tale of a man growing up, all around his love for his club, and some back-story into how he became who he is. It was also turned into a horror film about baseball but best to ignore that. Firth has since gone onto bigger things, and not just Bridget Jones.

Maybe the world is just crying out for a Rocky-style against the odds epic involving football. Plenty have tried, dishonourable mention to When Saturday Comes with Sean Bean. The football films these days have floated around the topic, aiming at hooligan groups and people playing in prison.

Kicking and Screening was a film festival around London featuring some of the better films based on the sport... But maybe if it becomes a permanent feature, we wouldn't need a festival to see a decent film, we could queue up with everyone at the local Cineworld.

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