Mike Bassett : England Manager - wikipedia Mike Bassett : England Manager This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. ( October 2012 ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2008 ) Mike Bassett : England Manager Directed by Steve Barron, Walt Disney Produced by Steve Barron Neil Peplow Written by John R. Smith Rob Sprackling Starring Ricky Tomlinson Amanda Redman Bradley Walsh Edited by Colin Green Production company Artists Independent Productions Film Council Hallmark Entertainment Distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors Release date 28 September 2001 ( 2001 - 09 - 28 ) Running time 89 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English Box office £ 3,443,174 Mike Bassett : England Manager is a 2001 satirical comedy film directed by Steve Barron and Walt Disney, following the fortunes of the manager of Division One football ( English football 's second tier ) club Norwich City, Mike Bassett, who having led his side to the ' Mr Clutch Cup ', is appointed England manager. It received mixed reviews. The film takes the form of a fly on the wall fictional documentary ( mockumentary ) following Bassett ( played by Ricky Tomlinson ) as he starts his international management career. Martin Bashir, well known as a journalist and presenter in real life, plays the interviewer and provides the voiceover, and the film features cameo appearances from Pelé and Ronaldo. The film satirises many targets, such as the mysterious figures who run the Football Association, the stereotypical view of an old - fashioned manager, and the tabloid press 's unfailing habit of building the England team up so they can knock them down hard. The World Cup being played is referred to in the film as ' World Cup XVII ' ; the 17th World Cup was the tournament played in 2002. The film was followed by a television series, Mike Bassett : Manager in 2005. And in 2014, a second film, Mike Bassett : Interim Manager, attempted to get £ 250,000 funding on the website Kickstarter. After the time limit for the funding expired, the campaign was cancelled, and there has since been no further news of this second film. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 England under Mike Bassett 4 Production 5 After the film 's events 6 Reception 7 References 8 External links Plot England manager Phil Cope suffers a heart attack during qualification for the World Cup, which started out well but has gone badly wrong of late. The FA heads meet to decide who should be the new England manager, but soon run into trouble. The most successful Premiership manager is Scottish ( based on Sir Alex Ferguson ), the second most successful is a former England captain who is interested in the job, but the FA decide that he is too much of a `` loudmouth '' and refuse to consider him ( a reference to the numerous times Brian Clough was passed over for the England job ), while none of the other English managers in the Premiership are interested. They are forced to look to Division One, and Bassett, who has just won the Mr Clutch Cup with Norwich City. Bassett takes over the England team and appoints his assistant manager Lonnie Urquart ( Philip Jackson ) ( a reference to Lawrie McMenemy under the Graham Taylor era ) who is very old - fashioned in his beliefs and still acts like a used car salesman and often compares the England players ' performances to cars, and coach Dave Dodds ( Bradley Walsh ), a spineless `` yes man '' who once managed with Mike at Colchester United ( a reference to Phil Neal under the Graham Taylor era ). The team need one win from three World Cup qualifiers to get to the World Cup Finals in Brazil. With a squad featuring a pony tailed goalkeeper ( based on David Seaman ). Kevin Tonkinson, an alcoholic Mackem ( based on Paul Gascoigne ). Rufus Smalls, a striker going through a very poor run of form ( based on Andy Cole ) ; Steve Harper, a playboy midfielder ( based on David Beckham ) and Gary Wackett, an extremely aggressive centre back ( based on Stuart Pearce / Vinnie Jones ). He plays an old fashioned 4 -- 4 -- 2 formation, and attempts to bring football back to where it belongs. Unfortunately, he loses his first two games in charge, and his managerial career is already on the rocks. Needing to beat Slovenia in the final qualifier to make it to Brazil, England can only manage a draw. However, a shock win by Luxembourg over Turkey sees them go through on goal difference. He and his team record the official England World Cup song with band Atomic Kitten, with compositions by `` hellraiser '' Keith Allen. So, England are on their way to Brazil. When they arrive, progress is not smooth as they start their tour by brawling with the Scottish and Irish teams. A difficult group stage sees them on the verge of heading home after they can only manage a goalless draw with unfancied Egypt before losing heavily to Mexico. One of England 's training sessions is rendered pointless, after Urquart locks the footballs in his Opel and goes shopping. Captain Gary Wackett is gaoled for taking part in hooliganism. Midfield playmaker Tonkinson accidentally gets involved in a drunken tryst with a transsexual. Assistant manager Urquart is sacked after punching Bassett for berating him as useless and when Mike mixes flaming sambucas with anti-depressants, it seems things can get no worse. The morning after his drunken incident, he is involved in a press conference where he is expected to step down from the managerial position. When he announces that he is carrying on the press begin to get hostile and Bassett responds by the reciting of `` If -- '' by Rudyard Kipling, which he finished by saying `` England will be playing 4 -- 4 -- fucking -- 2 '' and storms out. Following this, England need to beat Argentina to get through to the second round. England succeed when Tonkinson dribbles past the Argentinian defence, his shot deflects off the crossbar and he punches the ball into the net ( alluding to Diego Maradona 's infamous Hand of God goal and his legendary Goal of the Century, both scored against England in the 1986 World Cup ). England advance to the knock - out stages, where they beat Romania and France. Rufus Smalls scores a hat trick against Romania and becomes England 's top goal scorer with 52 international goals. But in the semi-finals, England lose to host nation Brazil. Bashir states that England equal their best performance since they won in 1966 ( in 1990, England finished fourth ). This implies that England lost the third place playoff, which is not seen in the film. The team return to England to a cheering crowd, where Bassett confirms to the waiting press that he will remain as manager. Cast Ricky Tomlinson -- Mike Bassett Amanda Redman -- Karine Bassett Bradley Walsh -- Dave Dodds Philip Jackson -- Lonnie Urquart Phill Jupitus -- Tommo Thompson Dean Lennox Kelly -- Kevin Tonkinson Martin Bashir -- Interviewer Robbie Gee -- Rufus Smalls Geoff Bell - Gary Wackett Pelé -- Himself Ronaldo - Himself Kevin Piper -- Norwich newsreader Robert Putt -- Jack Marshall Malcolm Terris -- Phil Cope Terry Kiely - Harpsey Philip Dunbar -- Sussex rep Ulrich Thomsen -- Dr. Hans Shoegaarten Lloyd McGuire -- Midlands rep Atomic Kitten - Themselves Keith Allen - Himself Gabby Logan - Herself Barry Venison - Himself Alan Green - Commentator Brian Moore - Commentator Clive Tyldesley - Commentator Martin Tyler - Commentator England under Mike Bassett Fixture Result Date Poland ( Home -- WCQ8 -- Group 3 ) Lost 1 -- 2 12 April 2001 Belgium ( Away -- WCQ9 -- Group 3 ) Lost 0 -- 3 20 September 2001 Slovenia ( Home -- WCQ10 -- Group 3 ) Drew 0 -- 0 18 November 2001 Egypt ( Neutral -- World Cup R1 -- Group 6 ) Drew 0 -- 0 15 June 2002 Mexico ( Neutral -- World Cup R1 -- Group 6 ) Lost 0 -- 4 19 June 2002 Argentina ( Neutral -- World Cup R1 -- Group 6 ) Won 1 -- 0 7 July 2002 Romania ( Neutral -- World Cup -- Last 16 ) Won 3 -- 0 12 July 2002 France ( Neutral -- World Cup -- Quarter Finals ) Won 2 -- 0 16 July 2002 Brazil ( Away -- World Cup -- Semi Finals ) Lost 0 -- 1 21 July 2002 Production Mike Bassett : England Manager is based on the career of Graham Taylor, and documentary An Impossible Job. After the film 's events Main article : Mike Bassett : Manager In the follow up television series, Mike Bassett : Manager, it is revealed that Bassett was sacked by England after failing to qualify for the 2004 European Championships, including a defeat to Liechtenstein. Bassett subsequently guided Newcastle United to two consecutive relegations, before unsuccessful returns to Norwich and Colchester lead to him taking over at his father 's former club, Wirral County. Reception The movie received a mixed reception from critics. When the film was released in the United Kingdom, it originally opened on # 3, behind Artificial Intelligence : AI and Moulin Rouge !. References Jump up ^ `` Box office / business for Mike Bassett : England Manager ( 2001 ) ''. IMDb.com Accessdate = 2016 - 07 - 22. Jump up ^ `` Mike Bassett : England Manager Film ''. The Guardian. 2008 - 07 - 21. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Mike Bassett spin - off is just 30 minutes of TV hell - News ''. Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 2011 - 09 - 23. Jump up ^ `` ITV to make Mike Bassett series - TV News ''. Digital Spy. 2004 - 10 - 06. Retrieved 2011 - 09 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Mike Bassett : Interim Manager - Make the new film a reality ! by Steve Barron -- Kickstarter ''. Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 22. Jump up ^ Smith, Arthur ; Pulver, Andrew ( 21 September 2001 ). `` Turnip - the movie ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2016. Jump up ^ `` Empire 's Mike Bassett : England Manager Movie Review ''. Empireonline.com. 2006 - 12 - 05. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 05. Jump up ^ Bradshaw, Peter ( 28 September 2001 ). `` Mike Bassett : England Manager ''. The Guardian. Jump up ^ Neil Smith Updated 27 September 2001 ( 2001 - 09 - 27 ). `` Films - review - Mike Bassett : England Manager ''. BBC. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 05. Jump up ^ Elley, Derek ( 27 September 2001 ). `` Mike Bassett : England Manager ''. Variety. Jump up ^ `` Weekend box office 28th September 2001 - 30th September 2001 ''. www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2017. External links Mike Bassett : England Manager on IMDb Films directed by Steve Barron Electric Dreams ( 1984 ) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ( 1990 ) Coneheads ( 1993 ) The Adventures of Pinocchio ( 1996 ) Merlin ( 1998 ) Rat ( 2000 ) Mike Bassett : England Manager ( 2001 ) Dreamkeeper ( 2003 ) Choking Man ( 2006 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Bassett:_England_Manager&oldid=802654670 '' Categories : 2001 films English - language films Association football films British films British comedy films British sports films British satirical films Sports comedy films Mockumentary films Norwich City F.C. 2000s comedy films Films directed by Steve Barron Hidden categories : Articles that may contain original research from October 2012 All articles that may contain original research Articles needing additional references from April 2008 All articles needing additional references Use dmy dates from January 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Português Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 27 September 2017, at 16 : 01. 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Question: who plays mike in how to lose a guy in 10 days
Answer: Ricky Tomlinson