How watching Sunderland TV show made Ricky Gervais fall back in love with football

You didn't have to be a Sunderland fan to be caught up in the drama of the Sunderland Til I Die documentary - as one of the UK's biggest showbiz names has confirmed.

The trials and tribulations of the Black Cats were laid bare for all to see in the fascinating Netflix series which won acclaim from those inside football, and plenty who previous had little interest. One of those caught up in the action was comedy legend Ricky Gervais, with the Office star revealing how the passions explored in the show made him fall in love with football again.

The comedian, 63, had been a big football fan in his younger days, but told speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, he told regular members Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott, Roy Keane and Ian Wright how the programme brought him back to the beautiful game.

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"I do, I love it now," Gervais told the Stick to Football podcast. "I went off it for about 30 years. I wasn’t anti-football, I played at school, and I actually played football until I was about 30.

"Probably from the age of 30 to 60 I gave up on playing - I didn’t have a team. I watched England twice a year whenever they were playing. I was aware of everything, but I got back into it in COVID during lockdown, when they were doing those games with no crowd.

"I got into it so much and then what really got me back into it was a documentary – Sunderland 'Til I Die. I loved that show – the fact that it was like a religion to them. The whole community was involved, it was a really well-made documentary, then I saw the struggle of the players, the finances, the manager.

"Then I watched the Manchester City one, the Leeds one, the Arteta one, and I was hooked. Now I’m fascinated with it, I watch every game that is on TV."