Amazon Prime's new All Or Nothing documentary on Arsenal has been hitting the headlines after its release.
But it has nothing on Manchester United’s forgotten gem of a behind-the-scenes feature-length documentary called Beyond The Promised Land.
Set in the season after United had won a historic treble, the fly-on-the-wall film reveals some interesting moments around Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, reports The Daily Star.
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The highlight being Roy Keane storming out of a team quiz because he believed Ferguson’s team has fixed the questions in their favour. But it is the extra characters which make for great - if at times bizarre - viewing.
Like Jack Keane, the Irishman who is working as a bar man in New York but has unwavering passion for United and is not shy in showing his emotions about it. Then there’s the late Frank Lammar, the female impersonator and comedy act, who became friends with Ferguson after they met in their work raising money for cancer charities.
While there is the drama of the breakdown of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s move to Old Trafford and the cruel editing of Mark Bosnich speaking about his future at the club, and then comes the arrival of Fabian Barthez to take his place.
Directed by Bob Potter, it can be found on YouTube and it is well worth a look through if you have a spare 80 minutes, an interest in United and the evolution of these behind-the-scenes documentaries.
The film opens with the Champions League final in 1999. It soon moves on to Ferguson talking about the Munich Air disaster and our new friend Jack Keane on how the players who lost their lives in that incident inspired the comeback win against Bayern Munich.
It is not known why Keane, a bar man in New York, was picked to play a pivotal role in the documentary but he certainly adds colour.
The strong Kerry accent, added to the fact he has so much passion he is seen topless celebrating goals behind the bar makes him stand out. Keane was one of the first to broadcast English football in New York in a bar called Nevada Smith’s, and was met with anger by locals in the Big Apple at first.
Then we are introduced to another colourful character in Lammar, real name Frank Pearson, who donned a blonde wig and entertained Manchester locals and tourists in his famous Northern Quarter bar Foo Foo Lammar’s.
The celebrity drag artist was quite the fundraiser, and got to know Ferguson through their work for cancer charities. It was reported Lammar raised over £4m through charity work, something Ferguson is rightly full of praise for in the documentary.
Then we switch to a bus of supporters from the north of Ireland making their bi-weekly pilgrimage to Old Trafford. There’s some more serious talk about United’s appeal in the Far East, which brings Peter Kenyon to the screens.
Later on, there’s the new sponsorship deal with Vodafone. Younger viewers will be aghast to learn that “SMS updates of football scores” was ground-breaking at the time. It’s worth it to hear the Nokia 3210 ringtone to the tune of United’s song for Jaap Stam.
The narrative throughout centres around can United retain the Champions League. Spoiler alert: They don’t. But there is also interviews with players around the FA Cup debacle which saw United skip the famous competition to play in the newly-founded FIFA Club World Cup.
That brought scenes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and others playing foot volleyball on a beach in Brazil with a few locals gathered round to watch.
There’s the start of the breakdown in relationship between Ferguson and Beckham later on, not long after the winger was red carded in the disastrous Club World Cup which saw United go out early. Soon we had Beckham shaving his head. “I went out one Saturday night and everyone had the same haircut, so I decided to change it,” he said.
Then there’s the quiz bust up as Roy Keane loses his cool as Ferguson celebrates with the coaching staff. “Ye fixed it man, you know you have,” says the Irishman as he wanders off.
Soon after his namesake returns, Jack is off to the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. He jumps in a yellow cab and the driver doesn’t seem too interested in the giddy supporter’s excitement about trekking all the way to Manchester.
Ever the optimist, a hungover New York barman remains confident all is well with United the day after their 3-2 loss to Real. At one point, Steve McClaren - now back at United - is jokingly called a “bandit” as the United team head out for a golf day.
There’s Ferguson asking Stam for advice on Van Nistelrooy, the later collapse of his transfer and the Premier League title celebrations, including an odd scene with Bosnich and Jesper Blomqvist hanging around the dressing room in suits which is never really explained.
It really is a wild ride. All Or Nothing has a lot to live up to.
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