This film is currently unavailable
The Saturday Men
A young Bobby Robson is one of the footballers profiled in this 1962 documentary following a week in the life of West Bromwich Albion FC.
Overview
This 1962 documentary follows a week in the life of West Bromwich Albion football club, and viewed today it’s presents a startling antithesis to the glitz and gilded glamour of modern football. Alongside the footage of arcane training methods we witness ageing footballers receiving careers advice as they make plans for a new, modest life outside of football.
With footage ranging from various daily routines to intimate boardroom discussions, it presents a fairly comprehensive profile of 1960s club football. The film is co-narrated by influential future Arsenal coach Don Howe and a young Bobby Robson is one of the footballers filmed in the changing rooms. The film was commissioned as the third and final part of Look at Britain, a series of films about working class life sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and initiated by director Karel Reisz as part of his experiments with a new form of British documentary, Free Cinema. Unlike the other two films in the series (Every Day Except Christmas and We Are the Lambeth Boys), The Saturday Men is a more conventionally filmed and constructed piece, and was not shown in the Free Cinema programmes at the National Film Theatre. As such, though directed by Free Cinema mainstay John Fletcher, it is not usually included in the canon of Free Cinema films.
Related
Fight for the F.A. Cup Fight for the F.A. Cup
Sport 1963 42 mins
The best of the action from over 30 years of FA Cup finals at Wembley Stadium.
Minehead Town v Exeter City Minehead Town v Exeter City
Non-Fiction 1977 3 mins Location: Minehead
Minehead Town v Exeter City FA Cup
Football Football
Sport 1967 28 mins Silent
Clement Freud explores the importance of football to the people of Liverpool - be they backing Liverpool or Everton in the FA Cup.
Cup Final: Aston Villa V Sunderland at the Crystal Palace Cup Final: Aston Villa V Sunderland at the Crystal Palace
Non-Fiction 1913 5 mins Silent Location: Crystal Palace
121,919 spectators filled Crystal Palace as the league's two top teams, Aston Villa and Sunderland, met in the 1913 FA Cup final.
Cup Final Drawing Nearer Cup Final Drawing Nearer
Non-Fiction 1922 1 mins Silent Location: Highbury
FA Cup third round: Arsenal v Leicester City and Cardiff City v Nottingham Forest.
FA Cup winners Wolves play at Molineux FA Cup winners Wolves play at Molineux
Amateur film 1949 4 mins Silent Location: Wolverhampton
A lovely colour film showing the 1949 FA Cup winners Wolves back in action at their Molineux ground soon after their championship win.
Sikh Matron Sikh Matron
Magazine and Review show 1985 8 mins Location: Kinver
From the temple to the hospital Kartar Singh is a leading practitioner of Sikhism.
Immigration Control Immigration Control
Current affairs 1978 9 mins Location: West Bromwich
The UK's immigration laws have prevented Dara Singh from seeing his family for a decade. His is one of many sad stories...
Arranged Marriages Arranged Marriages
News 1979 4 mins Location: West Bromwich
An attempt to close a loophole in the immigration system raises questions about the sustainability of arranged marriages in Western culture.
Caribbean Restaurant Caribbean Restaurant
Magazine and Review show 1986 7 mins Location: West Bromwich
Bringing the tastes of Montego Bay to a wintry West Bromwich.
Coronation Celebrations in West Bromwich 1937 Coronation Celebrations in West Bromwich 1937
Amateur film 1937 10 mins Silent Location: West Bromwich
Street parties, parades and those all important Union flags are in abundance as the people of West Bromwich come together to mark the Coronation of a new King in 1937.
Comic Pictures in High Street, West Bromwich (1902) Comic Pictures in High Street, West Bromwich (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 2 mins Silent Location: West Bromwich
Boisterous Edwardian lads jostle for a place in front of the camera in the West Midlands town.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.