IT’S JUST AS WE REMEMBERED IT
FOR James Kennedy, watching again a team he followed as a boy has been about research as much as relaxation.
He took an old friend from high school, Adam Jump, after together they had an idea to write a sitcom about the characters that attach themselves to a Non-League football club.
“We stood on the terraces and just eavesdropped,” Kennedy told The NLP.
“It’s the people that go to the game, and a community they become part of, that fascinates us.”
Last weekend, the duo presented a pilot for ‘The Albion’ to an audience for the first time during a screening at Witton Albion’s Wincham Park home.
Kennedy, an award-winning director, and Jump – who wrote the script – filmed the half-hour episode at the Northwich club’s ground earlier this year.
“I went there often with my dad and Grandad as a kid,” said the former.
“To go back years later, and see things through a fan’s eyes, has been fun for us both.
“We were nervous too; it’s a comedy, and we want people find it funny, but it’s not about taking the mick out of them.
“It’s been made with affection, and we hope they can see a bit of themselves on the screen.”
They describe ‘The Albion’ as a mockumentary that grants the viewer a glimpse of what it’s like to run, or play for, a side struggling for survival in the lower reaches of the football pyramid.
Its cast includes Martin Trenaman, from The Inbetweeners and Phone Shop, as hapless manager Terry Timpson who is attempting to arrest a slide that has seen the club relegated in each of the previous two seasons.
However, his efforts are undermined by newly-appointed coach Harry Thomas, played by Dean Fagan from Coronation Street and Fresh Meat.
Kennedy, encouraged by non-stop laughter in the room during the premiere, hopes others will do the same and a production company will shortly pitch a series to broadcasters.
“It’s been a couple of years in the making,” he added.
“We know where the story goes next and would love a chance to share that with everybody.”