"Another Sunday and Sweet F.A." is a

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

written by

Jack Rosenthal Jack Morris Rosenthal (8 September 1931 – 29 May 2004) was an English playwright. He wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations. ...

and directed by

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

which was first broadcast on 9 January 1972 in

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

's ''

ITV Sunday Night Theatre ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'', originally titled ''ITV Saturday Night Theatre'' and often shortened to simply ''Sunday Night Theatre'' or ''Saturday Night Theatre'', is a British television anthology series screened on ITV, and produced by London ...

'' strand. It stars David Swift, Freddie Fletcher and Gordon McGrase. It also features

Anne Kirkbride Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthu ...

, who as a result of her performance was cast in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'' in the role of

Deirdre Barlow Deirdre Anne Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 1 ...

. The play won the TV Critics' Circle Best Play of the Year Award.

Plot

Eric Armistead (David Swift) is a Sunday league

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

referee. Rosenthal explained that for him "life is an Immorality Play. Right never triumphs over wrong. Good never vanquishes evil. No one knows the meaning of 'fairness'. Which is why he's a Sunday morning referee – hoping that in his own small way, in a foreign field that's forever Manchester, he and his whistle might change the world." He referees a match between Sunday league teams Parker Street Depot XI and Co-Op Albion XI, but the game is ugly and violent, and it ends with the referee, driven to exasperation by the players, heading the ball into the net for the winning goal.

Cast

* David Swift as Eric Armistead * Gordon McGrae as Parker Street captain *

Fred Feast Frederick Feast (5 October 1929 – 25 June 1999) was a British television actor, best remembered for playing the role of Fred Gee in ''Coronation Street''. Early life He attended the Scarborough High School for Boys, Scarborough, North Rid ...

as Parker Street coach * Freddie Fletcher as Albion captain *

Duggie Brown Duggie Brown (born Barry Douglas Dudley; 7 August 1940 – 16 August 2022) was an English comedian and actor. He was the younger brother of actress and singer Lynne Perrie. Stage work During the early 1960s, Brown was a guitarist/vocalist in ...

as Albion Coach * Bert King as Albion Linesman * David Bradley as Goalie *

Joe Gladwin Joseph Gladwin (22 January 1906 – 11 March 1987) was an English actor, best known for his roles as Fred Jackson in Coronation Street, Stan Hardman in Nearest and Dearest, and Wally Batty in the world's longest-running sitcom, ''Last of the ...

as Sam * Michael de Frayne as Norman *

Susan Littler Susan Littler (31 December 1947 – 11 July 1982) was an English actress who appeared in many television and stage productions in the 1970s and early 1980s, before her death from cancer. A versatile and respected actress, Littler is perhaps ...

as Jeannie *

Clare Kelly Clare Kelly (25 February 1922 – 18 February 2001) was an English actress who worked primarily in television. She was known for roles in films such as '' Georgy Girl'' (1966), '' And Soon the Darkness'' (1970), ''The Fourth Protocol'' (1987). TV ...

as Gwen *

Lynne Carol Josephine Caroline Gertrude Mary Faith Harber (29 June 1914 – 30 June 1990), known by the stage name Lynne Carol, was a Welsh born actress, primarily in TV series and telemovies. She was best known for playing busybody Martha Longhurst ...

as Woman with Dog *

and Clare Sutcliffe as players' girlfriends *

Alan Erasmus Alan Erasmus is a British actor best known for his involvement in the Manchester music scene starting in the 1970s. He co-founded Factory Records with Tony Wilson, which signed Joy Division and the Happy Mondays. He also co-founded The Haçiend ...

and

Stephen Bent Stephen Bent is an English actor who has appeared regularly on British television since 1970 in varied roles, including on 5 soaps, '' Crossroads'', ''Coronation Street'', '' EastEnders'', ''Hollyoaks'' and ''Emmerdale''. In 1989, he played the r ...

as Parker Street players * Roy Nield, Joey Kaye and John Procter as Albion players * Bruce Watt, Brian Sweeney and Dominic Toner as Boys

Critical reaction

At the time of broadcast, Chris Dunkley in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' was critical calling it "not a bad play" that "failed continually to live up to a feeling of promise, and a hint of something better to come". However, Dunkley praised Swift's performance in what was "an unusual part for any actor". Later appraisals have been more favourable. Peter Sharkey in 2005 called it "possibly the greatest dramatic portrayal of football ever seen on our screens", praising details like players arriving clutching cigarettes and the goalkeeper arguing with his girlfriend as he leans against the posts, as well as the atmosphere of alcohol and bad pitches. The

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

website says "Not much happens ... but the accumulation of detail exudes authenticity."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' F ...

in his '' Teleguide'' (1979) calls it an "amusing north-country comedy". It is held in high esteem by specialist sports writers.

Frank Keating Francis Anthony Keating II (initially born as David Rowland Keating) (born February 10, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. , Keating is one of only five governors in Okl ...

called it a "classic" of sport-themed drama. Peter Seddon of ''

'' included in his list of ten classic football dramas.

DVD

It was included in the 2006 DVD box set ''Jack Rosenthal at ITV''."Out this week DVDs", ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of '' The Daily Telegraph'', also published by the Tele ...

'', 18 June 2006, Nexis. Web. Date accessed: 2013/04/24.

References

External links

* {{Jack Rosenthal 1972 British television episodes 1972 television plays British television plays ITV Sunday Night Theatre