With football in England suspended until the beginning of May at the earliest, fans across the country are looking to fill the void in any way they can.
What should have been a time of promotion pushes, relegation six-pointers and the business end of the Champions League is now a barren wasteland with nothing to keep sporting fans occupied but reruns of the Premier League Years.
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Luckily, there is something of a treasure trove of football series hidden on Netflix that will hopefully tide people over until football makes its glorious and welcomed return.
Here are our picks to keep you occupied over the coming weeks.
Sunderland Til I Die
The absolute benchmark of football documentaries, Sunderland Till I Die chronicles Sunderland’s disastrous 2017/18 season that saw them suffer relegation from the Championship to League One.
The series encapsulates what it’s like to support a club that has lost its soul and offers great insight into how a football is run, albeit from a complete basket case of a club.
With a second season coming at the beginning of April documenting Sunderland’s failure to gain promotion back to the Championship, Sunderland Till I Die will keep you occupied for hours on end.
First Team: Juventus
This six-part docuseries follows Juventus during the 2017/18 season.
While the series takes place during the same season as Sunderland Till I Die, the similarities end there.
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First Team: Juventus focuses on the winning mentality of the Italian giants and their quest to win the Champions League for the first time since 1996.
It is a world apart from the working class aspect of Sunderland, but it’s still a compelling watch.
The English Game
This one hasn’t come out yet, so we don’t know if it’s any good. However, it certainly looks very promising.
The new mini-series is a drama set in the 1880s and recreates the birth of modern football in England.
The English Game centres around the 1883 FA Cup final between Old Etonians and Blackburn Olympic and focuses on how football transformed from a game reserved for society’s elite into a game played all over the world.
It’s been perfectly timed to debut on Friday, March 20, and looks like it has excellent potential.
Maradona in Mexico
There are few people who are more showbusiness than Diego Maradona.
The man oozes charisma and is an instant hit with the media wherever he goes, be it as a footballer, a manager or simply a spectator.
This docuseries follows him as manager of Dorados de Sinoloa in Mexico after he was controversially appointed to the post during the 2018/19 season.
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The move was seen as a PR stunt, given that Dorados were last in the Mexican league and that Maradona is seen as a media magnet.
The show opens with Maradona being sent off for hurling abuse and insults at opposition managers and players but also shows a slightly more vulnerable side to one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
https://vimeo.com/338026437
Becoming Champions
This series focuses on the eight nations to have achieved World Cup glory.
The series explores the footballing history of each World Cup-winning nation in addition to focusing on their greatest players and their personal stories.
A must watch for any fan of international football or for anyone mourning the postponement of the European football championships this summer.
Boca Juniors Confidential
This four-part docuseries follows one of the most passionately supported clubs in football.
Boca Juniors Confidential is far more intimate and gritty than the polished First Team: Juventus and takes place in the second half of the Argentinian Superliga in 2018.
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The series chronicles the club’s faltering title bid as they attempt to cope with a mounting injury list and the return of Carlos Tevez after a stint playing in China.
Simultaneously, the docuseries follows the club’s bid for the Copa Libertadores and documents some highly personal moments for some of the players.
Boca Juniors Confidential is definitely worth a watch for anyone interested in following football outside Europe.
21 Thunder
Following the under-21 team of the fictional Montreal IThunder, this is decidedly North American take on the beautiful game.
The show features a lot more non-football storylines than any of the other series on this list – think Dream Team meets Friday Night Lights – but it does offer a good insight into a youth team and the trials and tribulations of trying to become a professional footballer.
With no football to watch for at least a month and a half, it’s better than nothing.
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