The most important football story ever told. `It is amazing to think that a game that people take for granted all around the world, was the very same game that gave a group of prisoners sanity - and in a way, gave us the resolve to carry on the struggle'. Anthony Suze, Robben Island Prisoner.
1953 offers a unique snapshot of life in and around football during Queen Elizabeth II's coronation year. Wembley saw its most exciting FA Cup Final ever, the top flight witnessed its closest-ever finish, the Mighty Magyars thrashed England and players went on strike over the contract system. An extraordinary year in football.
1923: Life in Football 100 Years Ago takes a deep dive into the matches, personalities and events that lit up the game a century ago. It's also a social history of how fans and footballers lived day to day. From the White Horse Cup Final to the murder of footballer Tommy Ball, it's a unique look at a memorable year in football and beyond.
Timed perfectly for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the true story of how political prisoners under apartheid found hope and dignity through soccer In the hell that was Robben Island, inmates united courageously in an act of protest. Beginning in 1964, they requested the right to play soccer during their exercise periods. Denied repeatedly, they risked beatings and food deprivation by repeating their request for three years. Finally granted this right, the prisoners banded together to form a multi-tiered, pro-level league that ran for more than two decades and served as an impassioned symbol of resistance against apartheid. Former Robben Island inmate Nelson Mandela noted in the documentary FIFA: 90 Minutes for Mandela, “Soccer is more than just a game…. The energy, passion, and dedication this game created made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in.”
Jihoafrický Alcatraz. Tak se přezdívalo vězení na ostrově Robben Island u Kapského Města. Od šedesátých do osmdesátých let minulého století tam živořili za mřížemi odpůrci apartheidu, mezi nimi i dva budoucí prezidenti svobodné JAR Nelson Mandela a Jacob Zuma. Vybojovali si právo provozovat vězeňskou fotbalovou ligu a vedli o ní záznamy. Z nich čerpali autoři vzrušujícího příběhu o tom, že fotbal je víc než jen hra, protože vrátil vězňům v nelidských podmínkách lidskou důstojnost.