User Reviews

Brilliantly observed and written "slice of life" drama with comic elements. The players and the ref all take themselves so seriously and imagine themselves to be much better and worthy of more than they actually are. The players come onto the pitch sharing a last cigarette between them. Both coaches send their assistants to try to influence the ref - but he's having none of it.

Both teams think that "fair play" means that the ref should always give them the advantage. But he's determined that he'll be equally fair - or equally harsh - to both teams.

But at the end of the match the ref has the last word.

Jack Rosenthal's plays for television often commented on the minutiae of life, that is, the little things and events we all take for granted because we see them every day.

This story of an amateur football match is no exception, as the Co-op Albion take on a despised group of visitors under the watchful eye of their to-rule referee (nicknamed Lord Longford). They don't get many observers, either - two bored teenage girls, the managers, the goalie's girlfriend, a couple of friends walking a little yappy dog, a line painter who hates football and wants to be a gardener for the council, and two typical Northern chaps - played by Coronation Street's Fred Feast and Last of the Summer Wine's Joe Gladwin.

Not a lot happens during this play but it is fun to watch anyway. Very typical of the types of programmes available from Granada TV at the time, when television could afford to spend an hour on ordinary life without high drama interfering.

A delightful production from a bygone age when ITV - not to mention the BBC - broadcast single plays at primetime on a Sunday evening and could expect viewers by their millions to watch them.

Sunday morning football is a tradition in Britain, where mostly amateur leagues take place. They are as a competitive and confrontational as their professional counterparts, with referees having a terrible job stopping the players fighting.

There are also the supporters of each side, who police the game with an enthusiasm that far exceeds that of the players. Sometimes it seems that the entire game threatens to be drowned in a sea of recrimination. Taking place on the outskirts of Manchester, Another Sunday and Sweet FA focuses on the referee of one of these games (David Swift), who lives in a tough area but lives for his Sundays, when he can put on the referee's uniform and carry out his duties. The game is tough, aggressive and uncompromising; he gets knocked out at one point, to be revived by the Parker Street Coach (Fred Feast) who mutters darkly later on that he shouldn't have got involved, as the referee is useless.

Rosenthal's main interest in this play is capturing the snippets of conversation that continue as the game is played. One side's goalkeeper (David Bradley) spends his time patching up his relationship with his wife (Susan Littler), and has to be reminded by his team-mates that he is also playing in a match. Two women walk up and down the side of the pitch; they are not related to any of the players, and spend their time talking about politics - that is, until their dog escapes and disrupts the game. Two other women (one played by Anne Kirkbride, later to be immortalized on television as Coronation Street's Deidre Langton) comment on the game but are dismissed as know-nothings by the men on the touchline. Football is a man's game, and has to remain as such for the males to sustain their sense of identity. Meanwhile the referee's changing hut is burgled by some young boys, who take some (but not all) of his money while everyone is busy.

The play ends with a climactic moment as unexpected as it is funny, with the referee at last having the chance to realize a dream. The players are astonished as well as resentful, but the referee defends himself with a perfectly valid interpretation of the rules.

Like most of Rosenthal's work, Another Sunday and Sweet FA catches the sheer inconsequentiality of people's conversation yet makes a lot of the Sunday

Sunday morning arrives in a small town in the north of England and the usual men pour out of their beds to take part in any number of amateur non-league football matches. At one such match Mr Armistead arrives to referee a match between two rival teams. Worrying that he will be throwing a ball on after 20 minutes, he immediately tries to impose himself on a game that could easily become a fight but gets the usual shouts and put downs from the crowd. As the match continues we eavesdrop on those around the game.

In the past few weeks I have been fortunate enough to be able to watch several of the work of writer Jack Rosenthal, the only downside of this chance was that it only came about due to his death earlier this year from cancer. I was aware Rosenthal had been a writer on Coronation Street back when it started but other than that I didn't know a great and never really watched any of his stuff at the time of release. Watching it now makes me realize just how badly one-off plays are treated nowadays – at best we have one-off cop thrillers with ex-soap stars but mostly the drive for ratings has seen 'ordinary' material been dropped in favour of stuff that can be made to look exciting and grabbing. Watching Rosenthal's work this week has been complimented by me digging out my Talking Heads collection and it has highlighted the lack of this type of stuff on the air but in fairness I suppose the BBC schedules are now too busy with Changing Rooms type shows to fit plays in!

Anyway, with the modern obsession with football it seems reasonable that this play would be able to draw an audience. It doesn't have much of a plot but it is nicely observed little play that has plenty of nice dialogue, side stories and realistic touches in both the characters and the match itself. It may not have a solid conclusion or a real underlying meaning to it but I don't think that's the point; instead it is like watching real people and getting to see more of their real lives while still at the match. The football match itself is refreshingly free of the solo runs and glory goals of film football and instead is a talentless grind where people are kicked as much as the ball! The cast do well with this, coming across as arsy as Sunday morning players will usually be (although not as out and out offensive as they are nowadays) but also delivering good lines rather than just being thugs.

Overall it is the writing that makes this film worth seeing because it is all so natural and, like real life, not a great deal actually happens but it carries you along anyway. An enjoyable piece of Sunday morning life that is worth seeing.