AN IMPOSSIBLE JOB

(1994)

When Graham Taylor died in January, tributes said the former manager and pundit was one of football’s true nice guys. The crew of the doc that almost ruined him would have recalled his good nature. In 1993, after filming Taylor’s England World Cup qualifying campaign, they were banned by the Dutch FA from filming at the penultimate qualifier in Holland. Taylor helped smuggle them pitch-side in England tracksuits and with their gear in kit bags. (If only his team had been so adept at rounding Dutch defences.) The shots of Taylor on the touchline as England lose their chance to qualify are comically poignant. The film is full of such moments. Taylor’s openness made him a laughing stock, his

“Do I not like that” and “Can we not knock it” became catchphrases. This film practically killed the fly-on-thewall sports doc and is all the more precious for it.