Football documentaries: players own narrative but what do we actually learn? | Xaymaca Awoyungbo

Jude Bellingham is perhaps the most well-documented footballer in history. Well, at his age at least. Sky Sports, Deutsche Welle, Copa90, Borussia Dortmund and Birmingham City all produced documentaries about him before his 21st birthday. And it’s clear to see why. His transformation from Birmingham City’s youngest ever player to a world beating galáctico in the space of five years is remarkable.

His performances on the pitch last season, picking up the award for La Liga Player of the Season, winning the Champions League and scoring a perfectly timed bicycle kick at Euro 2024, prompted fans and journalists alike to ask “who writes your scripts?”. As it turns out, Bellingham Media Ltd does.

The company has produced the latest addition to Jude lore with Out of the Floodlights, a four-part docuseries that follows the midfielder’s journey from his last game at Borussia Dortmund to the final of Euro 2024 with England.

The series is well shot, produced and edited, blending traditional talking head setups with more casual, fly-on-the-wall moments. It juggles the idea that Bellingham is a superstar but also a regular person like you and me as we follow him to award shows, photoshoots and his home. With its emotional ebbs and flows, the documentary is by far the best offering in the catalogue of films about him.

But more than anything, the series is an example of how footballers are taking control of their own narrative and understanding their value. Jude Bellingham’s documentary is almost all from his perspective, as well as some moments when you hear from his loved ones. He has created a safe space in which he can speak to his fans and critics, often looking down the barrel of the lens in his interviews, as if talking directly to them.

 

The new documentary follows Jude Bellingham during his first season at Real Madrid. Photograph: Pedro Castillo/Real Madrid/Getty Images

Of course, the path Bellingham is walking has been trodden before. David Beckham, to whom Bellingham is sometimes compared, recently won an Emmy for his Beckham documentary.

In it, Beckham speaks about some of the most controversial moments in his career, sometimes for the first time publicly. While documentaries in which the superstar protagonist plays such a dominant role – as also seen in Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance – are never going to be the most critical, they offer an opportunity for a celebrity to finally speak about how they have been reported.

The difference with the current crop of sportspeople is that they’re choosing to shape narratives more quickly and on their own platforms.

Cristiano Ronaldo turned to Piers Morgan to conduct the controversial interview that ultimately led to the forward’s transfer away from Manchester United to Al Nassr. This year however, fresh off the back of creating his own YouTube channel, he tapped his old mate Rio Ferdinand to interview him about a range of topics, including his thoughts on the current Manchester United team.

 

David Beckham talks about his life and career in Beckham, winning an Emmy in the process. 

UR Cristiano, whose subscriber base is almost equivalent to the total population of Britain, has realised the value of creating narratives on his own platform. Erik ten Hag himself was then asked about the interview which had taken place thousands of miles away in the comfort of Ronaldo’s memorabilia room. What’s more, the revenue generated , goes to him and his team – not that he particularly needs it.

Other footballers are also using their platforms to express themselves. Rafael Leão, sometimes criticised on social media for focusing too much on fashion and music rather than his football, uses his YouTube channel to vlog. In one video, we see the Milan forward travel to London to promote his own clothing brand Son Is Son, meet fashion designer Clint Ogbenna and lay down a verse in a recording studio.

His videos simultaneously confirm and confound the narratives surrounding him. Yes, he’s interested in other things outside of football but hisnperformances on the pitch speak for themselves. He shows that like us (we hope), he’s not defined by his day job, and the lo-fi nature of the vlogs help audiences connect with him more than an overproduced film ever could.

 

AC Milan forward Rafael Leão is another footballer using YouTube to shine a light on his interests outside of the game. Photograph: Daniele Mascolo/Reuters

Social media encourages us to form parasocial relationships with footballers. It’s easier than ever to feel as if you know them because you get a glimpse into their lives. But there will always remain a barrier that will prevent you from really learning too much about your favourite player.

There’s too much at stake for anyone still working. They’ve got to satisfy their employer, their sponsors and themselves. The result is a curated product that lacks the critique of an article or the depth of a retrospective film on somebody’s life.

But that’s not the point. This content is made for us to buy into the brands of Jude Bellingham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Leão. To see them as individuals outside of their sport and ultimately invest more time and money into them.