Dressing rooms have long been the safe haven for professional footballers. Away from the prying eyes of supporters and media, Leeds United’s players can usually shut the outside world away and focus on themselves within those four walls.
That sanctuary was taken away from last season’s crop of under-23s, who were met with cameras every way they turned as part of Academy Dreams: Leeds United, the club’s new documentary airing from September 23. Sam Greenwood, Joe Gelhardt and the rest had no hiding place for their practical jokes, post-match moans or Mark Jackson’s rollickings.
What’s more, the campaign in question would end in relegation. Jackson’s under-23s would win just seven of their 26 Premier League 2 matches and the players had to face the music in more ways than one once the full-time whistle went.
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Greenwood’s first-team duties would mean he only started 15 of those league games, but when he did play he would have to face up to the defeats when they came. In one clip, a post-match outburst from the forward is captured in the dressing room as he storms away.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s documentary launch, Greenwood admitted it got easier over the course of the season to relax around the cameras. While emotions would run high, he feels it’s important the public gets to see what goes on behind closed doors.
“It eased off because it's our place during the daytime, we had our own time and space, but obviously, during tough times, sometimes your emotions are running high,” he said. “It can be tough on the cameras and you have to [be aware].
“I got caught kicking off a little bit after one of the games. Obviously, I forgot the cameras were there because emotions are running high, but it's good to see, as we were saying before, our personalities in the dressing room as well. It's good for people to see.”
In a world where the likes of Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix have more than 200m subscribers apiece around the world, eyes are constantly being drawn to the latest television series. Like the rest of us, Greenwood is in those audiences, but he’s about to be one of the stars on screen.
Playing Premier League football to a global audience is one thing, but figuring prominently in a TV series on a major streaming platform is going to take Greenwood and his team-mates to new living rooms.
“It's exciting for all of us,” he said. “Something we're not really used to and I don't think we were expecting it. It's going to be great for us, especially for us to watch back personally, to look at ourselves from the outside and what we're really like. I'm looking forward to it.”
It’s not just the general public getting a fresh insight either. Greenwood’s family have had to guess what life is like in dressing rooms and at training grounds up to now.
“My family's looking forward to seeing it and obviously they will get to see what I'm like in the dressing room, something that they don't really see,” he said. “They're excited to see it, especially my little sisters and brothers.”
You can watch all six episodes of Academy Dreams: Leeds United on Amazon Prime Video from Friday.
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