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BT Sport explores how football gave the City of Liverpool new hope during troubled times


WEBWIRE
  • Film explores city’s sporting success in the ‘80s amid political and cultural upheaval
  • Features interviews with Lord Heseltine, Peter Reid, Derek Hatton and David Morrissey
  • BT Sport accessible in more ways than ever: mobile app, TV, connected devices app


Two Tribes – How Football Saved a City,the next film in the award-winning BT Sport Films series, will premiere at 9pm on Saturday 30 March on BT Sport 1.

Marked by unrest and economic decline, Liverpool in the 1980s found itself disparaged by many. Militant councillor and ardent Evertonian, Derek Hatton, the deputy leader of Liverpool City Council, led a rebellion against government cuts and put the city on a collision course with the Conservatives and with the Labour Party itself. Meanwhile, TV programmes such as Boys from the Black Stuff pricked the nation’s consciousness to the plight of Liverpool’s suffering while unwittingly reinforcing negative images of the city.

Against this backdrop rose the city’s two football teams, with Everton and Liverpool dominating the domestic and European game for the next ten years, offering Liverpudlians fresh hope and an identity that was not limited to Red or Blue. Their sporting dominance reached a high in 1984 when the League Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton became the first ever all-Merseyside Wembley Final. A third of the city’s male population made its way to London allowing 100,000 Liverpudlians to demonstrate civic pride.

The league title stayed on Merseyside for eight out of ten years as performances on the football pitch became the city’s primary form of opposition. But then, in tragic circumstances, the sport that had given its people a voice, shook the city through the disasters at Heysel and Hillsborough.

Together with interviews with those who lived through the era, Two Tribes features rare archive including the 1984 League Cup Final and the Merseyside derby FA Cup Finals of 1986 and 1989. Contributors include Hatton and Lord Michael Heseltine, footballers Peter Reid and Steve McMahon, actor David Morrissey, plus musicians Peter Wylie of the Mighty Wah! and Peter Hooton of the Farm, with archive featuring Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Ian McCullouch of Echo and the Bunnymen.

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “Two Tribes is a thought-provoking examination of how football transcends sport and becomes central to wider society. The filmcontinues BT Sport Films’ strong output of original films this season, following Brian O’Driscoll’s moving exploration of the Irish national rugby team in Shoulder to Shoulder, and Too Good to Go Down, the story of how relegation allowed Manchester United to find a new identity.”

Tenmonkeys have been commissioned by BT Sport to produce the film. Sally Brown is executive producer for BT Sport, with Caj Sohal producer and Andy Wells director for Tenmonkeys. It is the latest in the award-winning BT Sport Films series:

  • Shoulder to Shoulder: how the Irish national rugby union team has brought together players and fans from two separate countries and competes as on
  • Brothers in Football: the extraordinary true story of how South London amateurs Corinthian-Casuals, set out on a pilgrimage to finally play a historic match that was abandoned on the eve of the Great War
  • Too Good to Go Down: rarely-told story of how relegation in the mid-1970s enabled the modern-day Manchester United to emerge


In addition to acclaimed original films, BT Sport is the sole home of the UEFA Champions League, continues with Premier League coverage, is offering more matches than before from the Emirates FA Cup and continues with exclusive coverage of MotoGP. BT Sport is also the home of domestic and European club rugby, while boxing fans can look forward to a top-class line up of fight nights featuring boxers from the Frank Warren stable.

About BT

BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global Services and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2018, BT Group’s reported revenue was £23,723m with reported profit before taxation of £2,616m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com


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