2009 was a great year for football in the movies, with The Damned United and Looking For Eric not only managing to not suck, but to actually be genuinely good. With a hard act to follow, 2010 is shaping up to be… well, not as good as 2009, with only a handful of football films due for release this year as film makers neglect the chance to cash in on the World Cup.

Ken Loach’s ‘Looking for Eric’ is different. It’s a drama about a man rebuilding his life, but it’s optimistic, warm-hearted and funny. It’s a British film about football fans, yet it’s about the game uniting friends and family, never falling into gritty clichés. The film is as much about football as it is family, as much about Cantona as it is about second chances at life. An ex-footballer even puts in a performance of genuine subtlety. Loach has managed a rare feat with ‘Looking for Eric’ and created a film founded in realism just as much as it is in hope.

‘15 Minutes That Shook The World’ is a new film about the inspiration behind Liverpool’s second half come back in the 2005 Champions League Final against AC Milan in Istanbul.

If the trailer is anything to go by it looks like it’s got a good sense of humour, and could be entertaining enough to most footie fans and not just those of Liverpool. Whether or not it’ll be as funny for longer than three minutes we’ll have to wait to see, but we love the idea of mixing reality and comedy with the cameos of Steven Gerrard, Dietmar Hamann and especially Jamie ‘Shocka’ Carragher. And Jeff from Peep Show plays Rafa Benitez in it as well, and Peep Show is the best show on television, so that’s a good sign. Hopefully.

‘15 Minutes That Shook the World’ is out on DVD this November.

Nothing to do with a cursed football team of zombies (my screenplay is safe), The Damned United instead tells the story of Brian Clough’s ill-fated time in charge of Leeds in 1974. So anyone expecting a Hollywood style sports blockbuster, or zombies, will likely be a little disappointed, as this is a welcome, down to earth, old fashioned character piece about a great man making mistakes...

Usually it’s Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller cameo-ing it up in each other’s movies, but in ‘Role Models’, it’s PES that makes a brief appearance. Minus the unrealistically high percentage of fine ladies, the scene PES appears in is one of the most realistic party scene in a movie ever. Or at least realistic in comparison to parties we go to, mostly because one room is devoted to the game.