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It’s a funny old game, football – and a beautiful one at that. Many filmmakers have tried to encapsulate the adoration and passion that surrounds the sport through the decades. Some have been more successful than others.
The Damned United is one football film that hits different in our opinion. The 2009 drama is based around one of football’s true greats and characters, Brian Clough, who had an infamous 44-day stint in charge of Leeds United in 1974.
Setting the scene for The Damned United’s storyline
After a successful six years managing Derby County, Clough and his trusted assistant, Peter Taylor, went to manage Brighton & Hove Albion. Clough left the Seagulls less than 12 months after his arrival, but his reputation was untouched. Clough made the controversial decision to replace Don Revie at Leeds, despite being a vocal critic of Revie and Leeds during his time at the helm of Derby County.
Perhaps the biggest controversy of all was Clough’s decision to move to Elland Road without his sidekick, Taylor. This would prove to be a huge mistake, with Clough seemingly lacking Taylor’s tactical know-how.
The hugely impressive Michael Sheen was cast to play Clough – and he nails it with aplomb. He perfectly encapsulates Clough’s dry sense of humour, arrogance and burning ambition. The film brilliantly balances football history with real, human drama. You certainly don’t need to be a Leeds United fan to be hooked.
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The Damned United is gritty, engaging and a genuine behind-the-scenes account of what happened to one of the biggest names in English football. Given that Leeds have just booked their return to the Premier League for the 2025/26 in real life, it just feels like the ideal time to revisit the success of this film.
But let’s not get carried away, the Whites are currently priced by BetMGM at a whopping +75000 to win the 2025/26 Premier League. This is one of the newest entrants to the UK sports betting market, launching in August 2023. Their current Bet £10 and Get £40 promotion stands out as one of the most competitive bonuses of all UK-licensed bookies online. Those +75000 odds say everything about the challenge facing Leeds’ current boss, Daniel Farke. Clough may have lasted just six weeks at Elland Road, but even he might’ve had a few choice words for those odds!
While Leeds and The Damned United story proves that the beautiful game can chew up and spit out even the most brilliant managerial masterminds, where does it sit in the echelons of the greatest football movies ever? To our mind, there’s only a couple that can confidently stake their claim as being bigger and better than The Damned United.
Escape to Victory
Released in 1981, Escape to Victory has been a cult classic among the football fraternity for decades. It’s famed for containing a star-studded cast, including the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine. There’s also plenty of iconic footballers involved, including Brazilian star Pele and several members of the Ipswich Town team that were one of the best in Europe at the time of the film.
The plot was part-war, part-underdog sports movie. A prisoner-of-war camp where players could take to the pitch to show their skills and enjoy a moment of release. The football scenes may have been a tad cheesy, with Sly Stallone proving a dab hand at penalty saving, but it’s still the most talked about football movie of all time.
The Football Factory
If The Damned United focuses more on football’s back room struggles, The Football Factory is more about the back alleys of towns and cities up and down the country. The movie, featuring Danny Dyer the wannabee Spider-Man, dives headfirst into Britain’s football hooligan culture.
The movie essentially charts Dyer’s life as a football hooligan, living a life of violence, beers, and pre-match dust-ups. It’s by no means a glowing reference for the beautiful game, but it captures a different type of passion in British football.
If we’re dishing out medals for the world’s best football movies, The Damned United surely gets a bronze at the very least. Let’s face it, Cloughie wouldn’t settle for anything less, would he?!