Rocky, The Damned United and Sea Biscuit are among Mike Cattermole's favourites

Rocky, The Damned United and Sea Biscuit are among Mike Cattermole's favourites
Raging Bull, Champions, Chariots of Fire and The Damned United are included in Mike Cattermole's top 10 sporting films. Check out his full list and then let us know which other ones could have been included- According to the soccer tip page!



Send us your views
Send your comments and contributions on your favourite ever sports films to racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and if you’ve any ideas for more topics you want covering over the coming days and weeks please let us know.

No live sport is so tough lớn take, isn’t it?

If you’re like me, you’ll be battering YouTube with replays of some great sporting moments and if you need a change from those, there’s always the silver screen.

Mind you, movies about sport, especially those that recreate special moments, can be a bit hit and miss.

The list below is, again, a personal one. You may well applaud or even scoff at one or two of them. Guarantee they will make you smile or nod in appreciation.

We’d love to hear from you if you have some others. There are plenty lớn choose from. You can prefer the soccer daily tips page!

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2003)
My goodness, Keira Knightley’s career has come on a bit since she appeared in this! She plays one of two young girls, just desperate to play football, in a world whose culture had yet to mature.

Remember, this was not that long ago, yet the women’s game has moved on massively since this was made. What a feelgood movie it is, though. One for the family.



CHAMPIONS (1984)
John Hurt is Bob Champion as the story of one of sport’s greatest comebacks is played out under the direction of John Irvin, who I met recently at a special showing of the film for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.

Irvin admitted that the film looked dated now and wondered how it would be made these days with the use of CGI and drone cameras.

But it wouldn’t be the same film! The jockeys still wore woollens in those days and Hurt is pretty convincing as the cancer-stricken jockey. There is a nice turn from Ben Johnson as the wonderfully named Burly Cocks, an important mentor to the recovering rider, as well as Edward Woodward as Josh Gifford. Aldaniti played himself, of course.

And then there is the wonderful, iconic music of Carl Davis, which has become the modern anthem for the Grand National.

CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)
Speaking of music, Vangelis’s work on this classic has probably gone on to outshine, certainly outlast, the movie itself. In fact, it is hard lớn imagine life without the main title theme. It deservedly won the Oscar for best original score.

Based on fact, it is the story of two British athletes competing at the 1924 Olympics - almost 100 years ago now. Eric Liddell, the devout Scottish Christian, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew, were played by Ian Charleson and Ben Cross respectively.

Neither became big stars, although Charleson barely got the chance as he died from complications with sida just a few years later.