Writer, analyst, podcaster, Spurs fan. Three out of four is not bad. If there is a data angle, I will find it.
With the first few episodes of the highly anticipated All or Nothing: Arsenal docuseries hitting Amazon Prime last week, OLBG have decided to see where the latest football documentary ranks among some of the most popular releases over the last decade or so based on Premier League teams.
There has been an influx of sports documentaries in general since streaming platforms became the go-to places for watching TV and films, but none have been quite as popular as the ones focussing on the world's most watched sport.
Amazon and Netflix have been something of trailblazers in the modern era, somehow persuading top teams like Man City, Bayern Munich, Tottenham and now Arsenal to open their doors to cameras, often with unprecedented access to all facets of the club.
With so many of these documentaries available to watch across the two platforms, and more on the horizon with recent news of Leeds United’s Take Us Home being renewed for a third season, we decided to see which one the audience rates most highly.
To do this we took the IMDb rating, the number of reviews and Google user rating, as well as SEMrush search volume at the time of each documentary's release and the number of trailer views on Youtube to see how much buzz was around each Premier League football series/ film. An aggregate score was taken across all these metrics with the docs then being ranked accordingly.
Without further ado, let’s see which football documentary was the most popular…
| Documentary | Platform | SEMrush Search Volume (date of release) | Imdb rating (out of 10) | No of User reviews | Google User Rating | Youtube Trailer Views | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur | Amazon | 2100 | 8.1 | 5,717 | 89.00% | 806,000.00 | 1 |
| Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In | Amazon | 2000 | 8.2 | 5,090 | 87.00% | 605,000.00 | 2 |
| Sunderland 'Til I Die | Netflix | 15000 | 8.1 | 8,209 | 95.00% | 234,000.00 | 3 |
| All or Nothing: Arsenal | Amazon | 1900 | 9.2 | 823 | 97.00% | 573,000.00 | 4 |
| All or Nothing: Manchester City | Amazon | 1300 | 8.1 | 6,664 | 89.00% | 1,600,000.00 | 5 |
| Diego Maradona | Amazon | 1400 | 7.7 | 16,572 | 85.00% | 1,400,000.00 | 6 |
| First Team: Juventus | Netflix | 2100 | 7.3 | 2,093 | 84.00% | 515,000.00 | 7 |
| Inside Borussia Dortmund | Amazon | 3000 | 7.2 | 659 | 68.00% | 64,000.00 | 8 |
| Take Us Home: Leeds United | Amazon | 1500 | 8 | 80.00% | 202,000.00 | 9 | |
| Pele | Netflix | 2000 | 7 | 91.00% | 502,000.00 | 10 | |
| FC Bayern - Behind The Legend | Amazon | 1000 | 8.2 | 1,014 | 87.00% | 56,000.00 | 11 |
| El Corazon de Sergio Ramos | Amazon | 2500 | 5.3 | 76.00% | 94,000.00 | 12 | |
| Anelka: Misunderstood | Netflix | 330 | 6.4 | 3,185 | 82.00% | 1,200,000.00 | 13 |
| All or Nothing: Brazil national football team | Amazon | 10 | 7.1 | 508 | 69.00% | 55,000.00 | 14 |
| Antoine Griezmann: The Making of a Legend | Netflix | 780 | 6.5 | 1,179 | 62.00% | 31,000.00 | 15 |
Spurs Series Reigns Supreme
All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur had the best aggregate score across the metrics boasting an 8.1 out of 10 on IMDB, a 2100 search volume figure around its data of release and an 89% Google User score.
Amazon Prime released the docuseries on their platform back in August 2020 and it was exactly the sort of entertainment the world needed at the time, with lockdown restrictions fully in place. The series also took place during Jose Mourinho's time at the club and not only did he provide blockbuster entertainment but also gave the cameras unprecedented access, the likes of which has not been seen since.
Not many managers would agree to have cameras in their office and all around the training ground all the time, but Jose was more than happy to provide Amazon with whatever they wanted, making for a thoroughly entertaining documentary.
The 2021 film Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give - also available on Amazon - ranked second on the list, boasting a marginally higher rating than the Spurs series but lost out on search volume and Google user rating score. The feature film takes a look at the life and career of Sir Alex, starting with his upbringing in the shipyards of Glasgow and culminating in his historic treble-winning season as Manchester United Manager..
Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die came in third place and had by far the most search volume around the release date of its first season with 15,000 according to SEMrush. The series was a worldwide hit, showing in detail how a club in serious decline was being run. Although the camera crew wasn’t given as much access as any of the All or Nothing series, viewers really took to the fan-focused angle and became attached to Sunderland as a club. Now Wrexham owner and Hollywood star Rob McElhenney even cited the documentary as one of the reasons he chose to buy a football club.
Arsenal in Fourth Place
Having just premiered on Amazon, All or Nothing: Arsenal focuses on Mikel Arteta’s men during the 2021/22 campaign, which was a turbulent one for the North London club. So far, the doc has the highest IMDb rating on the list with a score of 9.2 and a 97% Google User score.
Search volume was slightly lower than its rivals with 1900 this month, but that could improve as more episodes are released. Like all the other documentaries in the All or Nothing series, the cameras are given great access to the training ground and team talks. However, it's still less than Spurs gave back in 2020, which is perhaps why it's not quite as highly rated amongst viewers.
All or Nothing: Manchester City rounded off the top five, which provided an in-depth look at how an elite club and manager (Pep Guardiola) operate in modern football. It followed City in their title-winning season back in 2017/18, where they reached an unprecedented 100 points. However, there were disappointments like their exit from the Champions League, which made the whole series more of a rollercoaster than you would initially expect.
