LAST UPDATE | 24 Mar 2020
LAST SUNDAY WEEK, we brought you 10 of the best sports films to watch on Netflix. We’re aware that, by now, there is every chance you have exhausted those options.
And so we embark upon the Wild West that is YouTube in search of our sports fix.
We’ve included links to the full films below. Consume them at your own leisure and be sure to share them with sports-mad loved ones in order to protect them from the crushing low of finding yourself watching re-runs of Friends on Comedy Central.
N.B. In no particular order:
1. Legendary Nights: The Tale of Gatti-Ward
Directors: Gabe Spitzer, Bentley Weiner
Premise: HBO tell the story of the brutal trilogy of light-welterweight fights between Arturo ‘Thunder’ Gatti and ‘Irish’ Micky Ward, the enduring friendship that was forged between them, and Gatti’s tragic, suspicious demise.
IMDB rating: 8.7
2. Clough – The Brian Clough Story
Directors: Gabriel Clarke, John McKenna, James Williams
Premise: The Afterlife of Brian continues a pace; best-selling book after best-selling book, a statue is unveiled in Nottingham city centre, and a feature film is released. ‘Clough’ has intimate access with the family as Brian is forever remembered in bronze and in exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Nigel as the wheel comes full circle.
IMDB rating: 7.8
3. Ringy
Director: Tony McCarthy
Premise: A look back at the life and times of arguably the greatest ever hurler, including never-before-seen footage of the Cork man in action.
IMDB rating: n/a
4. Jimmy’s Winning Matches
Director: Joanne McGrath
Premise: The remarkable story of the Donegal Gaelic football team and their journey to become 2012 All-Ireland champions.
IMDB rating: n/a
5. Sugar Ray Robinson – The Bright Lights and Dark Shadows of a Champion
Executive producer: Ross Greenburg
Premise: Spanning his career from the early Depression-era days until his death in 1989, this special brings to light the many sides of the greatest boxer of all time: flashy public icon, womanizer, comeback kid, philanthropist, fighter.
IMDB rating: n/a
6. No No: A Dockumentary
Director: Jeff Radice
Premise: A ‘no-no’, or no-hitter, is a baseball pitcher’s perfect game, where no batter hits the ball. Only 295 have occurred in US pro baseball from nearly 215,000 games. In 1970, Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates says he threw a no-no against the San Diego Padres while high on LSD. This film explores that myth and reveals a lot more.
IMDB rating: 7.2 (97% on Rotten Tomatoes)
7. Deep Water
Directors: Louise Osmond, Jerry Rothwell
Premise: A film chronicling the infamously disastrous 1968 round-the-world yacht race.
IMDB rating: 7.8 (96% on Rotten Tomatoes)
8. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird: A Courtship of Rivals
Executive producers: Ross Greenburg, Rick Bernstein
Premise: A film exploring the rivalry between two basketball greats which began with the 1979 NCAA Championship Game and lasted throughout their lengthy Hall-of-Fame careers in the NBA — the league that leant on Magic and Bird to survive.
IMDB rating: 8.3
9. Dark Horse
Director: Louise Osmond
Premise: An inspirational true story of a group of friends from a working men’s club in Wales who decide to take on the elite ‘sport of kings’ and breed themselves a racehorse.
IMDB rating: 7.3
10. Joe Louis: America’s Hero Betrayed
Executive producers: Rick Bernstein, Ross Greenburg
Premise: The story of arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time: his difficulty getting big fights early in his career, the pride of African-Americans in his prowess, the shift of white sentiment toward Louis as Hitler came to power, Louis’s patriotism during World War II, and the hounding of him by the IRS for the following 15 years.
IMDB rating: 7.4
11. Their Finest Hour
Director: Brian O’Flaherty
Premise: The tale of Munster’s 1978 victory over the All Blacks told from both sides.
IMDB rating: n/a
12. An Impossible Job
Director: Ken McGill
Premise: A documentary following then-manager Graham Taylor through England’s disastrous 1994 World Cup qualification campaign.
IMDB rating: 7.8
Share your own YouTube recommendations in the comments section below!
Brilliant stuff lads – cheers for that. Some great recommendations.
You can add A Year Till Sunday. Best GAA documentary
@Gerard Browne: never knew there was a doc on Ring, will watch for sure
@Gerard Browne: Was coming here to comment the same thing. An absolute classic. Watched it again last week. Ja is the man!
@Stevie D: John Divilly…..sin é!
@Gerard Browne: Not just GAA, one of the best sports docs ever made
@Fr Chewy Louis: it was before its time. Even a cameo appearance by Eamon Dunphy haha
If anyone has BBC 4 I cannot recommend OJ Simpson- made in America, highly enough. It’s a 5 part 30 for 30 documentaries series. It’s one of the greatest documentaries ever made- probably a bit of a stretch to put it in the sports bracket given the subjects infamy & notoriety. Part 2 is on tonight if anyone wants to series link.
@Robert O Farrell: check out a documentary called ‘madness on wheels rallyings crazy years’. Its about when car rallying turned into an arms race to make crazier faster cars in the 1980s with the inevitable banning of the particular group b class due to driver and spectator deaths. If it’s no longer on YouTube it will be on dailymotion
@Robert O Farrell: 30 for 30 are class, some great documentaries, Sole Man is a personal favourite of mine. Their podcasts are good too.
@Stephen Lyons: slaying the badger is hilarious. Hinault is meant to be the baddy as opposed to Greg lemond but hes so cool even in middle age you find yourself rooting for him
Hoop Dreams a great doc to watch on YouTube
Formula 1 drive to survive is superb
For anyone missing Irish basketball there’s ‘We Got Game – The Golden Age of Irish Basketball’. A brilliant documentary on basketball in the eighties featuring Kelvin Troy, who once kept Larry Bird to 6pts in a college game, Dave Hopla, still regarded as the best shooter in the world, and Mario Elie, who went on to win 3 NBA titles after his time in Ireland. Whether you’re into Irish basketball or not it’s a fascinating sports documentary and well worth a watch.
The gatti ward fights were unbelievable and round 9 will go down as one of if not the best round of all time
@Warren Mcdermott: two absolute warriors
The weight of a nation, a documentary on New Zealand’s 2011 world cup win is brilliant too. Surprised it wasn’t in the original list.
If you’re interested in American Sports, would recommend Foul Play, the series documenting the Ole Miss/ Laremy Tunsil scandal, and how corrupt the NCAA system is.
https://youtu.be/_Qm-P2foSE4
Great article guys. Thanks for the recommendations.
Jim Stynes – Every Heart Beats Through. Watched it on YouTube last week for the first time in ages. What an inspirational man.
@Patrick McCarron: Great shout. An incredible watch.
‘A Sunday in Hell’ free on YouTube, for cycling fans.
The Bert Trautman story on YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_RvDhsv8jjw
If you have amazon then I highly recommend the best of men, it’s about Ludwig Gutterman he created the Paralympics
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Men-Eddie-Marsan/dp/B00IWLJ3H0
@Richard Cronin: also I rather enjoyed the toughest trade
https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+toughest+trade++
The 2009 Lions documentary is also available on YouTube. ROG like.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=97uxJmXMQuc
Road (2014) The story of the Dunlops and Knuckle (2011) are top documentaries
@Richard McBriar: Excellent
“All for one” also for cycling fans.
Great doco showing the team effort of a cycling team and that to a layman it may come across as an individual sport, but it is really anything but. The trials and tribulations (not to mention the funny sides) of a cycling team.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ch1m085rpU
For me it’s the one and only ringy!! ( Christy Ring) xx
‘The Names on the Cup’ brilliant documentary and ‘The Broadstreet Bullies’