Best movies like The Great Game

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Great Game Starring James Hayter, Diana Dors, John Laurie, Thora Hird, and more. If you liked The Great Game then you may also like: Varsity Blues, The Pigs vs. The Freaks, Over the Goal, The Quarterback, Roberta and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

The wealthy chairman of First Division Football Club, Burnville United, makes an unethical approach to a star player of another club, and the ensuing scandal costs him his job.

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Varsity Blues

In small-town Texas, high school football is a religion, 17-year-old schoolboys carry the hopes of an entire community onto the gridiron every Friday night. When star quarterback Lance Harbor suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon, a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game.

The Pigs vs. The Freaks

In a small town, the hippie faction often clashes with the mainstream. To settle their differences, the hippie "freaks" take on the town police "pigs" in a football game. On opposing sides of the fence are Frank, the police sergeant, and his son Neal. Also at odds are Neal and one time friend Doug, a returned Vietnam Vet who has joined the police force, who is also protective of his younger sister who prefers the hippie element. To make things even more intense, Mickey South, who has fled to Canada to avoid the war, returns to play for the Freaks football team. Tensions mount and all are challenged as the climax of the film approaches.

Over the Goal

The Carlton State star quarterback is wrongly thrown in jail, almost guaranteeing a major loss as well as costing the college a donation which would save the school from closing.

The Quarterback

Elmer Stone, quarterback of the 1899 Colton College football team vows to remain a student until Colton beats its biggest rival, State University. Twenty-seven years later, Elmer is still in school and is a classmate of his son, Jack. Other than driving a milk wagon in his spare time, Jack is also the quarterback of the football team. A matter of his eligibility comes up but he is cleared and goes out to do-or-die for Colton against State University. Maybe they will win The Big Game, and Jack's father can get a life...and a job.

Roberta

Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately. John and company visit his aunt, owner of a posh fashion house run by her assistant, Stephanie. There they meet the singer Scharwenka (alias Huck's old friend Lizzie), who gets the band a job. Meanwhile, Madame Roberta passes away and leaves the business to John and he goes into partnership with Stephanie.

Kept Husbands

A former All-American football star, now working as a steel mill supervisor in New Jersey, falls in love with the mill owner's wealthy, very spoiled daughter.

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery

During a charity football match between Arsenal and touring amateur side Trojans, the Trojan's new star player collapses and dies. Inspector Slade of Scotland Yard is called in and declares it was murder. It takes all his ingenuity and another death before the motive is discovered and the killer revealed.

Big Fan

Paul Aufiero, a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from Staten Island, is the self-described "world's biggest New York Giants fan". One night, Paul and his best friend Sal spot Giants star linebacker Quantrell Bishop at a gas station and decide to follow him. At a strip club Paul cautiously decides to approach him but the chance encounter brings Paul's world crashing down around him.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

Conspiracy

American Steve Kendall, a freighter's radio officer, discovers seaman Carlson sending an unauthorized message ashore as the ship approaches his war-poised homeland. Carlson is shot in cold blood when he jumps ship and Kendall, implicated in the espionage, swims ashore to avoid arrest. A woman he meets at the dock hides him in her apartment, where he learns Carlson was her brother, and they both work in a sabotage ring. Nedra is a singer at Tio's Cafe, and she approaches Tio for help when both the saboteurs and the secret police try to capture Steve.

The Damned United

Taking over Leeds United, Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor.

Easy Money

A win on the football pools in postwar Britain changes lives. A happy family is turned into an unhappy argumentative lot until it is discovered the coupon apparently didn't get posted. A mild-mannered clerk worries about how to tell his overbearing boss he is quitting. A double-bass player finds life without the orchestra lacks something. The lure of the big money even turns some people into criminals, as when a coupon checker is tempted by his night-club singer girlfriend to cheat the company. Written by Jeremy Perkins

Brown of Harvard

Tom Brown shows up at Harvard, confident and a bit arrogant. He becomes a rival of Bob McAndrew, not only in football and rowing crew, but also for the affections of Mary Abbott, a professor's daughter.

Win That Girl

A gridiron rivalry between two colleges is entering its third generation, and the Norton family (father and grandfather were members of teams defeated by rival squads captained by members of the Brawn family) rears Johnny Norton, 3d, to be a star football player. The lad is underweight, however, and initially shows a talent only for drop kicking. During the big game, Johnny is substituted for another player and leads his team to victory, winning for himself the love of Gloria Havens.

Maybe It's Love

A very young Joan Bennett tops the cast as Nan Sheffield, the daughter of a college president. The nominal leading man is Tommy Nelson, the black-sheep son of a wealthy alumnus. Though Nelson is an ace football player, President Sheffield refuses to enroll the boy because of his bad reputation, whereupon Tommy's father withdraws his financial backing and bars his son from ever setting foot on Sheffield's campus. Falling in love with Nan, Tommy signs up with the college under an assumed name, giving up his wastrel ways to lead the football team to victory. Joe E. Brown steals the show as Speed Hanson, a goofy gridiron star who emits a loud and long yell whenever scoring a touchdown (this was, in fact, the first film in which Brown's famous "Yeeeeowww" was heard -- but certainly not the last).

The Time, the Place and the Girl

A musical comedy that follows the progress of a college All America football player whose swollen head is deflated when, after graduating , he takes a job as a Wall Street stock salesman. While poor at selling, he knows how to charm women and his boss has him concentrate his efforts on disposing of bad stock to gullible females, one of whom turns out to be the wife of his boss. The film is considered lost, with only its soundtrack remaining.

Father Was a Fullback

Coach George Copper's college football team is losing game after game, much to the dismay of stiff-and-stuffy but influential alumni Roger Jessup, and also having trouble at home with his oldest daughter, Connie. The team keeps losing and Coach Cooper is about to lose his job as his efforts to win the last game of the season, against the team's Big Rival, end in disaster. But, unknown to he and his wife, Elizabeth, Connie has sold an article, called "I Was a Bubble Dancer" to a 'True-Confession" magazine, and the girl-who-couldn't-get-a-date becomes suddenly popular and, because of her, the high-school football star from another town decides to play his college-ball for Coach Cooper. Jessup is forced to keep Cooper on as the school's football coach.

Kicks

Nicole is an introverted Liverpudlian teenager, all but deserted by her parents, with a mother distractedly working nights and a father who has settled with a new family elsewhere. She spends time hanging around the gates of Anfield and the Melwood training ground, desperate for a glimpse of her idol, the star midfielder Lee Cassidy. She Meets aspirant WAG Jasmine, who is from an affluent family, more glamorous and streetwise, yet the girls' shared adoration to Cassidy lead them to bond instantly. They trawl the city and its nightspots, fantasizing about a time when they might have Lee for themselves, yet when the news breaks that the footballer is a transfer target for Real Madrid, they take drastic action to prevent him leaving.

The Gay Caballero

Football star Ted Radcliffe goes west to manage an inherited cattle ranch. Empire builder and cattle thief Don Paco is hounded by El Coyote (who is really Don Bob) who now has a partner in Ted. Unfortunately Ted is also falling love with Don Paco's daughter Adela.

The Primrose Path

A naive high school girl falls for the school's star football player. Her ignorance in the matters of sex leads to pregnancy and heartbreak.

One Minute to Play

"Red" Wade, a star high-school football player, has intentions of going to Claxton College, which has a powerhouse football team, but changes his mind when he meets the sister of the pitiful Paramlee team and goes to college there, just as his father, an alum of the school, had wished. But his father has ordered him not to play football. "Dad" Wade, has offered a $100,000 endowment to his old school, not knowing his son has joined the football team but is going to withdraw it if his son plays in the Big Game against Claxton. This puts "Red" between a rock and a hard place.

The Male Animal

The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passage. Meanwhile, Ellen's old boyfriend, the football player Joe Ferguson, comes to visit for the homecoming weekend. He takes Ellen out dancing after the football rally, causing Tommy to worry that he will lose her to Joe.

College Humor

A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.

Under the Stadium Lights

After a crushing defeat ended their prior season, everyone counted the Abilene Eagles out of title contention. Facing doubts and personal challenges both on and off the field, it takes the guidance of their team chaplain and a surrogate father figure for the players to realize what they can achieve when they stand united.

Love on the Sidelines

A down-on-her-luck young woman who falls into a job as a personal assistant to a star quarterback sidelined with an injury. He's never had a female assistant before and she knows nothing about football.

David Beckham: For The Love Of The Game

Cameras follow David Beckham as he attempts to play a football match on all seven continents and get back in time for his own UNICEF fundraising match at Old Trafford. On the journey, he discovers what football means to the many different people he meets and plays with, as well as some of the universal truths about the game itself, including its ability to inspire and unite people.

Fascism and Football

Documentary examining how the three most powerful fascist dictators of the 20th Century - Mussolini, Hitler and Franco - used football's popular appeal as vehicle of propaganda. Rare archive footage, combined with evidence from historians and contributions from former stars of the game, is used to expose the cases of corruption, sabotage, intimidation and even alleged murder that affected the lives of supporters and many high-profile players alike.

Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays

Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.

Football For Better Or For Worse

This timely documentary explores the inherent struggles of women's football, following the team through a dramatic year of triumph and loss. Led by new sporting director Therese Sjögran and Brazilian star Marta, the club fights every day to lift the women's game.

When Football Changed Forever - The Story of the 1991/1992 Football Division One Season

The dramatic story of the 1991/92 Football League Division One season - the final campaign before the Premier League began. Leeds United overcame fierce rivals Manchester United to emerge as champions, thanks to a certain Frenchman named Eric Cantona, but behind the scenes, the makeup of English League football was to change forever.

Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn

In this sequel to Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, Alexander's story is told in both the past and the present. Alexander's parents send him away from home for being too sensitive and not helping enough on their farm. He goes to Los Angeles in hopes of going to art school, but when he can't find a job as a minor, he turns to prostitution. After being arrested, he wants to head to Arizona to marry Dawn, but he falls into a lucrative job/relationship with a gay football star.

While Thousands Cheer

Kenny Harrington, the star football player of Gilmore College, leads his team to many victories, raising hopes that Gilmore will play in the "Peach Bowl," the championship playoffs of the Western conference. Unknown to Kenny, Downey, the head of a gambling syndicate, has placed a $100,000 bet against the Gilmore team.

St. Louis Woman

Johnny Mack Brown stars as medical student and football star who was expelled after a night club brawl over a woman. He meets her again only to find out she owns the club and is involved with a gambler...

Brides Are Like That

Fred, the wealthy owner of apple groves, has sent his nephew to college, but the only job that his nephew has after graduating is the job of not working. Bill is a dreamer, a talker and a golf player and he has a lot of ideas, but still lives off Fred. When Hazel gets engaged to Doc Jenkins, it takes a while, but Bill talks her into marrying him instead. The only problem is that now, he needs to find a job.

Friday Night Sext Scandal

High school football players conspire to post nude images of their female classmates on a covert website. When the site is discovered, members of the community try to expose the culprits, only to learn the devastating truth about those involved.

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