Spoiler
Alert: I assume most people have already seen these films, as a result I
discuss the plot as much as I can. I will not try to go into every detail but
generalize as much as possible.
Film: When Saturday Comes (1996)
The
opening credits of the film ‘When Saturday Comes’ (not to be confused with the
popular Magazine) show the bleak and desolate Sheffield landscape comprising of
factories and pollution.
In
the latter stages of these opening credits we see a young boy juggling a
football in this environment.
As
the film starts, we see the same young boy with a Guidance counselor of sorts
at his school. The young boy has dreams of becoming a footballer, but the
school official immediately quashes his dreams by informing him that if he had
the talent he would have been picked up at schoolboy level years before. The
official then bluntly tells him that his only choices are either working in the
mines or in a factory.
Years
pass and now we see our protagonist as an adult. Sean Bean (real life Sheffield
United fan), who has been in a myriad of Hollywood movies playing anything from
a James Bond Villain to more sympathetic characters, plays the central
character. Jimmy Muir, a local lad, with dreams of football glory.
Photo
From: Goal, Issue 6, March 1996
The
adult Jimmy Muir is still living in the same neighborhood with his family, His
biggest supporter is his younger brother Russell, who is an avid Match
programmes collector and works in the mines just like their father. Jimmy and
Russell’s father is the clichéd bitter and miserable old man. He is a hard
drinker, gambles and makes Jimmy’s kind mother suffer with his behavior and
demeanor. He also takes every opportunity to belittle Jimmy for his football dreams,
although that does not stop him from asking money from his sons (it is implied
that he needs the money to pay off bookies for his gambling habit).
As
expected Jimmy works in a brewing factory, where he gets along well with his
buddies, who are also his teammates in the local team. Of course, their
supervisor at work (as film cliché would have it) is another bitter man on a
power trip, who is the bane of Jimmy and his friends’ existence.
Jimmy
and his friends from the Brewery, usually play in front of a handful of
supporters standing on the touchlines in a field near a cemetery.
Jimmy
is the star of the team and their main goalscorer.
Jimmy’s
life changes when Annie Doherty (played by Emily Lloyd) joins the Brewery as
part of the clerical staff. Emily Lloyd shot to fame as a teenager for her
breakthrough role in ‘Wish You Were Here’ in 1988. American audiences might
remember her from Robert Redford’s ‘A River Runs Through It.’
Naturally,
she catches Jimmy’s eye and they go on a date.
Since
this is a film and we are pressed for time, one date is sufficient for the pair
to fall in love.
Afterwards
at one of Jimmy’s matches, we are introduced to the character of Ken Jackson
(played by the late great Pete Postlethwaite). He is the Manager of Non-League
side Hallam. He is impressed by Jimmy’s talent and offers him a place on his
team. It turns out that Ken Jackson is also Annie’s uncle. He does well in his
new team, and Ken, who has connections with the local giants Sheffield United,
arranges a trial for Jimmy with them.
Former
professional player, Tony Currie plays himself as the Sheffield United’s Chief
Scout.
Jimmy
impresses enough in the trial to earn a second trial under the presence of the
head Manager for a final decision.
It
is at this point where things are seemingly going well for Jimmy that his
problems start.
He
is fired from his work at the Brewery after he punches his supervisor, after
continuous verbal abuse.
Things
at home are just as complicated, as his father’s gambling and boozing has made
life at home unbearable especially for Jimmy’s mother.
His
father even resorts to selling Russell’s prized Football Match Programnes
without his knowledge.
The
relationship with Annie has also entered a new phase. She suggests that they
should look for an apartment to live together. Jimmy deduces that she is
pregnant, but he tells her that he does not want a child and is not ready for a
family.
On
the eve of his crucial trial, he is out with his friends for one of their
birthdays. Despite initial refusal to drink alcohol, he is roped into it
through peer pressure (or perhaps still depressed after the earlier incident
with Annie).
Needless
to say, he drinks all night and even sleeps with a stripper. He arrives at the
trial under the watchful eye of First team Manager George McCabe (played by
James McKenna), along with Tony Currie and Ken Jackson.
He
is completely out of sorts and makes a mess of his trial. Once the Manager
smells Alcohol on him, he dismisses him on the spot.
To
compound on his misery Annie also breaks off with him, after being informed of
his infidelity with the stripper.
As
if these troubles were not sufficient, events turn significantly more tragic
after his younger brother Russell is killed after an accident at work in the
mines.
It
is at this point (as seen in countless other films) that our hero decides to
clean up his act and redeem himself.
He
gives up alcohol and asks Ken Jackson for a second chance.
He
starts training individually (reminiscent of Rocky). We see him doing sit-ups,
running, etc. He also tries to win Annie back by persistently writing her
letters. Ken Jackson is overcome by his dedication and agrees to help him train
and get another shot at Sheffield United.
After
continuous persistence, Annie finally reconciles with Jimmy.
He
also somewhat reconciles with his father, who tearfully admits that his anger
and bitterness is due to the fact that he could not stand to see his own
succeed because of his own failings.
It
is left for Ken to convince the Sheffield United Management for another shot at
a trial for Jimmy. After doing so, Jimmy impresses in the trial and wins a spot
on the first team. He is restricted to the bench in the early going, waiting
for his opportunity.
Sheffield
United are scheduled to play the mighty Manchester United in the semifinals of
the FA Cup.
Predictably
they fall behind and seem to be eliminated. Due to an injury, Jimmy finally
gets his long awaited chance to play and comes in as a substitute at halftime.
Annie and Ken are at the stadium cheering, while his friends watch in disbelief
in a local pub. After some early difficulty he gets into the game and scores
the tying goal to make the teams even (2-2).
With a minute left, Jimmy is elbowed in the box and
Sheffield United are awarded a penalty kick.
He
is tasked with the ensuing penalty kick. The sequence is shot after a long
pause in slow motion for dramatic effect (as if we had any doubts about the
outcome).
He
scores, they win, everyone celebrates and THE END.
This
film was released in 1996, at a time when the Premier League was in its early
stages of becoming a global brand.
The
ending (as clichéd as it is) feels a little flat with no satisfactory epilogue.
The audience assumes that Jimmy is on his way to make it big, but the film ends
just as soon as the winning penalty kick is taken.
As
far as the penalty kick itself, that sequence is also baffling. It seems
inconceivable that he would be assigned to take the penalty kick. He is
literally the least experienced player on the field with not even a half of
top-flight football behind him. It seems like in basketball, where the fouled
player is assigned with the free throws.
Apart
from that, the film follows sport movie conventions of rags to riches and is
predictable at almost every turn, most notably with the whole redemption
narrative and winning back your love.
Photo
From: Goal, Issue 7, April 1996
(Sean
Bean after the winning kick)
Notes:
1-
Former Professional player Mel Sterland, who played the Sheffield United
Captain in the film, actually had a long and distinguished career with city
rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
2-
Some have suggested that Sean Bean, who was well in his thirties, as too old
for the role (although his character was supposed to be 25).
Following
USSR’s elimination from qualifying to the Finals of Euro 1984, the Soviet
Authorities dismissed The Manager Valeri Lobanovsky.
The
new man in charge that they appointed was former Dinamo Minsk Manager Eduard
Malofeyev. He had led Dinamo Minsk to the Soviet League Title in the Fall of
1982 and now his mission was qualification for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Malofeyev
could still call upon the backbone of the team that included players from
Spartak Moscow (goalkeeper Rinat Dassayev, Yuri Gavrilov), Dinamo Tblissi
(Chivadze, Sulakvelidze), not to mention the Dinamo Kiev contingent (Baltacha,
Bessonov, Demiannenko, Blokhin).
Many
of his former Minsk players (Aleinkov, Gotsmanov, Zigmantovich and Kondratiev)
now had opportunities in the new regime.
Dnipropetrovsk
pair of Gennadi Litovchenko and excellent striker Oleg Protasov were also now
in International reckoning after helping Dnipro win the Soviet League title in
the Fall of 1983.
USSR
played a number of friendlies in 1984 in preparation for the World Cup
qualifiers that would start in September.
They
lost to West Germany (March 28, 1984, 1-2), but defeated Finland (May 15, 1984,
3-1) and Mexico (August 19, 1984, 3-0).
Their
best display was in defeating England at Wembley (June 2, 1984, 2-0).
Malofeyev
experimented in these matches and included many of the aforementioned new
Dinamo Minsk and Dnipro players.
Their
World Cup qualifying group included Denmark, who had surprised everyone during
the 1984 European Championships. The others were Republic of Ireland,
Switzerland and Norway.
The
World Cup qualifiers started on September 12th with an away trip at
Dublin to face the Republic of Ireland. The hosts won this hard fought match
(1-0). In general the Soviets would find traveling difficult for these
qualifiers.
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 55, October 1984
(September
12, 1984, World Cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 1-USSR 0)
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 70, December 1985
(Gennadi Litovchenko and Mark Lawrenson, September
12, 1984, World Cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 1-USSR 0)
The
second match at Oslo vs. Norway on October 10th was also
disappointing as the Soviets could only manage a (1-1) tie. Litovchenko replied
with a goal in the 74th minute, after the Soviets had gone behind
twenty minutes earlier to a Hallvar Thoresen penalty kick (awarded after
Rodionov had fouled Thoresen in the box). For this match at Norway, Oleg
Blokhin had been dropped. Officially, it had been stated that his
unavailability was due to injury. Many believed it was because he had quarreled
with his teammates.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 41, October 14, 1984
(Sergei Alienikov and Hallvar Thoresen, October
10, 1984, World Cup Qualifier, Norway 1-USSR 1)
In
the New Year (1985), Malofeyev took the squad to participate in the Jawaharlal
Nehru Cup in India.
They
came back victorious after wins vs. China, Iran, Morocco and a Final win vs.
Yugoslavia.
In
preparation for the away qualifier at Berne vs. Switzerland, the Soviets took
upon Austria in a friendly at Tblissi and won (2-0).
After
two disappointing away performances, the Soviets were eager to come away with a
positive result vs. the Swiss. They seemed to be headed to a rare away victory
after Demianenko had given them the lead with ten minutes remaining. However,
Andre Egli scored Switzerland’s equalizer at the death to deprive the USSR of
its first win in the group.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 16, April 21, 1985
(April 17, 1985, World Cup Qualifier,
Switzerland 2-USSR 2)
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 70, December 1985
(USSR Squad, April 17, 1985, World Cup
Qualifier, Switzerland 2-USSR 2)
Two
weeks later they faced the same opponents on home turf. Malofeyev had vowed
they USSR would play an attacking game at home. They tore apart Switzerland and
scored four goals (two apiece by Protasov and Kondratiev) in just the first
half. Future Ballon d’Or winner Igor Belanov made his debut for the Soviet
Union by coming on for Litovchenko with ten minutes left.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 18, May 5, 1985
(May 2, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR
4-Switzerland 0)
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 18, May 5, 1985
(May 2, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR
4-Switzerland 0)
Photo
From: kicker_WM-Sonderheft_1986
(Oleg Protasov, May 2, 1985, World Cup
Qualifier, USSR 4-Switzerland 0)
On June 5th, they faced the impressive Denmark squad at Copenhagen.
What more can be said about one of the most referenced matches in the history
of Football. This match has gone down as a perfect example of attacking and
attractive Football being played by both teams. Denmark won (4-2), but despite
the loss, the Soviets were praised for their approach.
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 70, December 1985
(Preben
Elkjaer, June 5, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, Denmark 4-USSR 2)
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 70, December 1985
(Preben
Elkjaer and Tengiz Sulakvelidze, June 5, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, Denmark
4-USSR 2
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2073, December 31, 1985
(USSR Squad, Top, left to right: Rinat
Dassayev, Yuri Gavrilov, Oleg Protasov, Sergei Aleinikov, Tengiz Sulakvelidze, Gennadi Litovchenko , Bottom, left to right; Sergey Baltacha, Igor Belanov , Boris Pozdniakov, Sergei Gotsmanov, Anatoli Demianenko , June 5, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, Denmark 4-USSR 2)
The
Soviets started the final phase of the qualification with preparatory
friendlies vs. Romania and West Germany in August (both won by them).
Alexander
Zavarov made his debut for National team in the match vs. Romania.
Oleg
Blokhin was now re-integrated back into the squad after having fallen out with
his teammates the previous year.
On
September 25th, they took upon group rivals Denmark in Moscow. The
high scoring Oleg protasov was the difference as they won this key match to
inch closer to qualification.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 39, September 29, 1985
(September
25, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 1-Denmark 0)
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 39, September 29, 1985
(September
25, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 1-Denmark 0)
The
Soviets were to close out the qualification matches in the month of October at
home vs. Republic of Ireland and Norway (within two weeks of one another).
The
Irish (surprisingly good away from home) were defeated (2-0) with once again
Protasov amongst the scorers.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 42, October 20, 1985
(October
16, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 2-Republic of Ireland 0)
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 42, October 20, 1985
(October
16, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 2-Republic of Ireland 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 119, November 1985
(Fyodor
Cherernkov, October 16, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 2-Republic of Ireland
0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 119, November 1985
(Protasov’s
goal, October 16, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 2-Republic of Ireland 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 119, November 1985
(USSR Squad, October 16, 1985, World Cup
Qualifier, USSR 2-Republic of Ireland 0)
At
the end of the month, they defeated Norway (1-0) with a goal from Kondratiev in
very cold temperatures. They qualified for the World Cup Finals along with
group winner Denmark.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей, Issue 44, November 3, 1985
(October
30, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 1-Norway 0)
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2065, November 5, 1985
(October
30, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 1-Norway 0)
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2065, November 5, 1985
(October
30, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR 1-Norway 0)
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2065, November 5, 1985
(October 30, 1985, World Cup Qualifier, USSR
1-Norway 0)
In
the New Year, the Soviets took part in customary friendly matches in
preparation for the World Cup.
The
results were disastrous as they successively lost to Spain (January 22, 1986,
0-2), Mexico (February 19, 1986, 0-1), England (at Tblissi, March 26, 1986,
0-1) and Romania (April 23, 1986, 1-2).
The
authorities fearing a disaster at the World Cup, removed Malofeyev from his
post and re-appointed Valeri Lobanovsky as National Team Manager.
Lobanovsky
flooded the squad with his own Dinamo Kiev players and installed Belanov and
Zavarov in leading roles.
The
Soviets were impressive in the first round of the Finals, which included the
(6-0) hammering of Hungary. They were eliminated in the second round by Belgium
(3-4). Igor Belanov and Alexander Zavarov’s performances earned the former the
Ballon d’Or and the latter the Soviet Player of the year Award.
1986 World Cup Qualifiers-Euroepan Zone-Group 6
September
12, 1984 (Oslo) (Norway 0-Switzerland 1)
Erik
Thordsvet, Hans Herman Henriksen, Terje Kojedal, Aage Hareide, Per Edmund
Mordt, Vidar Davidsen, Kai Erik Herlovsen, Tom Sundby, Jorn Andersen
(Sverre Brandhaug 75th), Arne Larsen-Oakland, Hallvar Thoresen
Coach:
Tor-Roste Fossen
Other
Subs: Ola By Rise, Arne Erlandsen,
Trond
Sollied, Goran Sorloth
Table
P
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1
USSR
8
4
2
2
13
8
5
10
2
Denmark
7
4
1
2
13
5
8
9
3
Switzerland
7
2
3
2
4
9
-5
7
4
Ireland
7
2
2
3
4
6
-2
6
5
Norway
7
1
2
4
3
9
-6
4
November
13, 1985 (Dublin) (Republic of Ireland 1-Denmark 4)
November
13, 1985 (Luzern) (Switzerland 1-Norway 1)
