whPre-FMP planning and research.

This is the very start of the planning for my FMP. I have decided to do this project on
something that I’m extremely passionate about, football. Earlier in the year, I did a
documentary on Sports Photography which I thoroughly enjoyed doing so I want to do
something like this. This documentary is going to be roughly 10 minutes long which means
I’m going to have to create a narrative/storyline for audience to create a piece of work which
is interesting and fulfilling to the audience.

I need to have a purpose and point to this documentary so I’m going to need to research local
clubs to find something either unique or interesting to speak about. There have been many
documentaries made on larger clubs in the Premier League, so I’m going to pick a club lower
down the footballing pyramid, even into the non-league, which should unlock the opportunity
for an interview with someone at the club.

Looking at these different clubs, I needed to find an interesting story which I could speak
about and therefore standing out from the rest.

 A dog saves the day for Torquay

United.
In this story that I found online, Torquay
United were saved from dropping out of the
English Football League in 1987 because a
police dog that was “patrolling the touchline”
and bit a Torquay player’s thigh. This meant
that the player had to have treatment and
therefore four minutes of injury time was
added. Paul Dobson went on to equalize in the
94th minute which saved the team from
relegation.

Due to it being in the 1980’s, it’s going to be

difficult to source footage or gather
interviewees as they may not be online for
contact.

There was a 25-minute documentary created

based on this story which is on Netflix titled
“Losers” and it is episode 2.

Within this documentary, they use a multitude of animations, interviews and footage from the
game. I found this footage on YouTube where there’s footage of all the goals and the
paramedics rushing over to Jim McNichols to treat his injured leg.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42yRqrszSkc) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=O7KUkeh8kYI)

Furthermore, at the end of the 5-minute video, you can see Jim McNichol meeting Bryn the
dog after the match, a few days later. I would love to get Jim McNichol on my documentary
for an interview, but I don’t know how easy that will be since he is 65 and there’s not any
obvious way of contacting him. If I’m unable to contact Jim McNichol, then I think I will try
and contact people at the club that might’ve been there at the time or even played in that
match.

 Ali Dia – the footballer that wasn’t a footballer.

The story of Ali Dia comes from Southampton FC where in 1996, the manager at the time,
Graeme Souness receives a phone call from someone pretending to be George Weah. The
person on the phone claimed that it was his (George
Weah’s) cousin who had played for PSG and his
country, Senegal. This, however, was a hoax call as
Ali Dia had only played a handful of games in the
lower levels of France and Germany and at English
non-league side, Blyth Spartans. Despite this,
Souness was convinced from this phone call and Dia
was signed on a one-month contract in which he
made £3,500 in signing-on fees and £2,000 for his
14 days at the club.

He made one appearance for The Saints in his one month at the club against Leeds United on
the 23rd November 1996. In this match, he came on for Matt Le Tissier who got injured in the
32nd minute. During the match, he managed to register a shot however Souness decided he’d
seen enough, and he was substituted off again in the 85th minute. He was subsequently
released from his contract after two weeks.

In this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfX9gBmsWqg&pp=ygUHYWxpIGRpYQ

%3D%3D), you can see the infamous Ali Dia making his debut for Southampton and
registering his only shot in the game. In an interview after the match, the manager, Graeme
Souness said that “he didn’t do well today”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=7CTOowuaKqo&pp=ygUHYWxpIGRpYQ%3D%3D). Even after George Weah said that
he hadn’t phoned Graeme Souness, Ali Dia stuck to his story and claimed that he had scored
for his country.

This would be harder to film as the stadium in which Ali Dia had featured in, The Dell, no
longer exists and has been replaced by St Mary’s stadium which opened in 2001 so therefore
I can’t film at the actual site it happened at. Furthermore, the only people I can really get
interviews from would be the players, Ali Dia himself or Graeme Souness in which I doubt
any of them would be willing to do interviews for me due to their fame.

My form for this decision.

I need to figure out which one of these stories I want to make my documentary on. I think the
best way of doing this is to explain a brief overview of the stories and asking my family and
friends which one of these stories they think is the most interesting and funny. Asking my
family and friends means that I can get a range of opinions from a big range of audience,
including people who are and aren’t interested in football.

The results from this form will influence my decision of what story I choose to base my
documentary on. Personally, I want to do the Torquay Dog story as I think the story is less
well-known and is about a smaller club’s “do or die” moment, which is always special to
their fans and the community.

How I’m going to try and make this documentary interesting to all viewers.

Normally, with documentaries based on football, they target a

very niche audience. An example of this is Netflix’s
“Sunderland ‘til I die” in which they follow the running of
northern team, Sunderland FC, in which they showcase
exclusive footage of the behind the scenes of the day-to-day
running of a football club. Sunderland are currently in the
second division (EFL Championship) but still have a
passionate and large fanbase who boasted an average
attendance in their stadium of 38,095 in the 2022/23 season
(source). I believe their large fanbase is a primary reason why
Netflix chose to make a documentary on Sunderland, as they
already knew there is a large audience to be targeted. It’s not
just targeted towards Sunderland fans however, as Sunderland
‘til I die has been enjoyed by many football fans from all different areas of the world. I
believe that Sunderland ‘til I die is an example of a documentary that
is mainly targeted towards people who are interested in football due
to the way that they construct the episodes. Throughout the show,
they presume that you, as the audience, understand the rules of
football already and don’t bother to explain the basic rules of the
sport.
An example of a documentary explaining how the sport works is “Welcome to Wrexham”.
Welcome to Wrexham follows a similar premise to Sunderland ‘til I die, however is targeted
towards a much larger audience. In this, they explain how the divisions work in English
football and how you can be relegated/promoted based on your league position at the end of
the season. I think they have chosen to do this as the main story is based around American
actors, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, purchasing fifth-division Wrexham. I therefore
think people who haven’t ever watched/taken an interest in football might start watching this
because it features the famous actors that they have watched elsewhere, and then get hooked.
Explaining the rules simply to an audience that doesn’t know how the sport works is a great
way of maintaining interest in your show as they won’t get confused by anything that is
happening. Furthermore, Rob and Ryan are also learning with this new audience which helps
the audience relate to the main people in the documentary.

I want to make my documentary interesting to anyone, even if they don’t have an interest in
football due to the bizarre nature of the stories that I tell.

Ted Lasso is a comedy TV show in which a new inexperienced coach

comes in as the manager of the fictitious team, AFC Richmond. This
show’s premise is around football however the audience that is
watching it, doesn’t necessarily have to be interested in football to
enjoy Ted Lasso. Its initial viewership might be people who are
interested in football however you’ll realise that the show is more
about the emotional relationships and development of the characters,
than the football. This is something similar to what I want to be doing
with my documentary in that I want to focus less on the footballing
itself, and focus more on the story of a saviour dog, or someone that
tricked the system. These stories could theoretically be told in any
context and not just under football.