The Match | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mick Davis |
Written by | Mick Davis |
Produced by | Guymon Casady Allan Scott |
Starring | Max Beesley Isla Blair Laura Fraser Richard E. Grant |
Cinematography | Witold Stok |
Edited by | Kate Williams |
Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures (through United International Pictures) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Match (also titled The Beautiful Game) is a 1999 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Mick Davis.
In the Scottish village of Inverdoune, teams representing the village's two pubs—Benny's Bar and Le Bistro—have played an annual football game for 99 consecutive years. Under the terms of the original bet, the loser of the 100th match must forfeit their bar to the winner. Facing its 100th consecutive loss, Benny's Bar looks set to be bulldozed and replaced with a car park by the odious owner of Le Bistro, "Gorgeous" George Gus (Richard E. Grant). Local boy Wullie Smith (Max Beesley) returns from university, where he stays at the home of Sheila Bailey, re-igniting his dormant feelings for her daughter Rosemary (Laura Fraser). Wullie possesses TFR (Total Football Recall)—an encyclopedic recollection of football tactics and statistics—and would be an ideal manager for the Benny's Bar team, but he is traumatised by the death of his brother during their childhood and refuses. Also unwilling to help the team is a resident former professional football player (Neil Morrissey), known as "Piss-Off" due to his response whenever he is asked to play. [1]
The Match was filmed in the Scottish village of Straiton in South Ayrshire. [2]
One of the film's production companies was Irish DreamTime, owned by actor Pierce Brosnan who appears in a cameo role in the film as John MacGhee. Footballer Alan Shearer also makes a cameo appearance. [2]
The Scottish Premier League was the top-level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when the SPL and SFL merged to form the new Scottish Professional Football League, with its top division being known as the Scottish Premiership. A total of 19 clubs competed in the SPL, but only the Old Firm clubs of Glasgow—Celtic and Rangers—won the league championship.
Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of Morecambe Bay. The parish of Carnforth had a population of 5,560 in the 2011 census, an increase from the 5,350 recorded in the 2001 census. The town is situated around 7 miles north of Lancaster, 17 miles south of Kendal, 40 miles east of Barrow-in-Furness and 28 miles northwest of Settle. The town is also close to the Cumbria/Lancashire border.
The Sunday Herald was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution, and later Scottish independence. The last edition of the newspaper was published on 2 September 2018 and it was replaced with Sunday editions of The Herald and The National.
David Mark Joseph Morrissey is an English actor and filmmaker. Noted for the meticulous preparation and research he undertakes for each role, he has been described by the British Film Institute as one of the most versatile English actors of his generation.
Neil Francis Lennon is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the head coach of Liga I club Rapid București.
Taggart is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries Killer from 6 until 20 September 1983, before a full series was commissioned that ran from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010. The series revolved around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines were set in other parts of Greater Glasgow and in other areas of Scotland. The team operated out of the fictional John Street police station. Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994. However, the series continued under the same name. Taggart is one of the UK's longest-running television dramas.
Alexander Young was a Scottish international footballer. He played as a creative forward for Heart of Midlothian and Everton. He won league championship and cup titles with both clubs where he was also a regular goal scorer. Young later played for Glentoran and Stockport County. Internationally he played for the Scottish League and the Scotland national football team. In football folklore he has become known as 'The Golden Vision'.
"Can't Get Enough" is the fourth and final single released from English rock band Suede's fourth studio album, Head Music (1999). The song was released on 8 November 1999 through Nude Records.
Hillhead High School is a day school in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow.
Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. is an English actor and musician. His television and film credits include The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1997), The Match (1999), Hotel (2001), Kill Me Later (2001), The Last Minute (2001), Bodies (2004-2006), The Last Enemy (2008), Survivors (2008–2010), Mad Dogs (2011-2013), Suits (2013), Empire (2015-2016), Ordinary Lies (2015), Jamestown (2017-2019), The Outsider (2020), The Midwich Cuckoos (2022), Operation Fortune (2023) and Hijack (2023). In 2024, he appeared as boxing promoter Henry Collins in Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen (2024).
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. Set in Victorian era England with a backdrop of parliamentary life, Simon Raven's dramatisation covers six novels and follows the events and characters over two decades.
Fraser is a Scottish surname, connected to the Clans Fraser and Fraser of Lovat. It is most commonly found in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Bennett is an English surname and, less commonly, a given name. Alternative spellings include Bennet, Benett, Benet and Bennette. It is common throughout the British Isles, in England, Scotland and also in Ireland.
Fraser Gerard Forster is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
The Celtic Media Festival, formerly known as the Celtic Film and Television Festival, aims to promote the languages and cultures of the Celtic nations in film, on television, radio and new media. The festival is an annual three-day celebration of broadcasting and film from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, Galicia, Cornwall and Brittany. The festival was founded in 1980.
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football and is governed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW). Between 1980 and 1999 the side played 133 matches, the majority of which came against other European national teams. The British Home Championship, which had been held every year outside wartime since 1894, was disbanded in 1984. The decision to end the competition in its 100th year was blamed largely on low attendance figures, football hooliganism and England and Scotland's desire to play other opponents. Wales came within one match of winning the tournament in the 1980–81 season. They needed only to beat Northern Ireland, but the final game was never played after players refused to travel following an escalation of The Troubles in Ireland. Northern Ireland won the last tournament, held in the 1983–84 season, on goal difference as all four sides finished on equal points.
Events from the year 1930 in Scotland.
Walking Wounded is a collection of short stories written by William McIlvanney and published in 1 January 1989. Following a revival of interest in McIlvanney's writing, this book was reissued by Canongate Books in 2014.
The World XI, also known as the FIFA World Stars, is an association football team consisting of players from various countries. The World XI play one-off games against clubs, national teams, collectives of continental teams.
Season 1987–88 was the 104th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 82nd time, the Scottish Cup for the 93rd time and the Scottish League Cup for the 41st time.