Chris Johnson

Freelance TV editor-producer-writer-hyphenator. Sven, Boyzone, Brawn, Camden and far too many family wedding videos.

[Sky TV @skytv]

Behind the success, fame, fall-outs and tragedy. It’s time to tell their story. #BoyzoneNoMatterWhat #SkyDocumentaries

@ronanofficial @officialkeith @shanelynchlife @MRMIKEYGRAHAM

[Radio Times @RadioTimes]

#Boyzone stars get emotional in raw first trailer for documentary

https://t.co/DeRLtVFVyH

[Oporto Sports @OportoSports]

Oporto Sports is delighted with the news that our late client Sven-Göran Eriksson’s documentary film, Sven, has been shortlisted for Sports Documentary of the Year (Over 60 minutes), at The @Broadcast_Sport Awards 2024.

The awards will take place on the evening of Thursday 14 November, at London Hilton, Park Lane.

Sven was released on Friday 23 August on Amazon @PrimeVideo in the UK, Ireland and Nordics, and was produced by @WeAreWhisperTV and Up&Away Film Entertainment, directed by @claudiacorbs (Bobby Robson: More than a Manager), produced by Chris Grubb (Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes) and Drew Masters (14 Peaks, Nothing is Impossible) and executive produced by James Quinn for Up&Away, and Sunil Patel and Mark Cole for Whisper.

This shortlisting is the second accolade the film has received, having been shortlisted as a finalist at this year’s @SportBizAwards for Most Successful Sports Broadcast, with the awards lunch event to be held at Old Billingsgate on Friday 29 November.

For full details on the shortlists for all categories at The Broadcast Sport Awards 2024, please visit https://t.co/Nv6c9Nu9FQ

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Farewell to Sven. https://t.co/FQtJyP0UtD

[VODzilla.co @VODzillaMag]

A thoughtful, poignant portrait a life well lived. Our review of Sven-Göran Eriksson documentary Sven, available on Amazon Prime Video: https://t.co/iBtUdg0sPC

[Chris Johnson @ChrisNotMatt]

These are lovely words from Henry Winter about Sven and very apt. RIP.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

I wrote this last week on my daily newsletter on substack and it's quite long but it just feels right to run it again here. RIP Sven.

There is a deeply poignant moment in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s farewell film, one of many poignant moments, when he urged viewers, and himself, to “remember the good times”. His voice is laid over footage of swimming with his delighted grandchildren and David Beckham’s arcing free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford. Good times.

He lived a life did dear old Sven. And as it drew to an untimely close the 76-year-old made a remarkable film with his children Lina and Johan chronicling the onset and grip of cancer and also reflecting on the many joys of his life, family, friends and football.

To visit Sven at his beautiful lake-side retreat in Sunne, Sweden, was always to appreciate the kindly, measured nature of this charming man. “Beer? Hot-dog?” is how he greeted travel-weary visitors. To be asked to contribute to Sven’s film released on Amazon Prime last Friday was an honour. Remember the good times.

And remember the lessons. We learned about dignity in defeat from Sven. He went into the Swiss referee Urs Meier’s room after England were controversially knocked out of Euro 2004 and Meier had ruled out a legitimate-looking Sol Campbell goal. “Well done,” Sven said to Meier, shaking his hand, without a hint of rancour or mockery. Sven was a civilised man. While many of us were lashing out in frustration at another tournament failure, and some were going after Meier so much that he had to move house, Sven was acting with decorum, even support for the referee.

Remember to care for players. Sven showed real compassion for a fretful Darius Vassell who wanted to remain in Portugal after Euro 2004 because he feared the media ambush on his return after missing his penalty. When England went out of the 2006 World Cup, Sven didn’t think of himself, of his frustration, but of others. He beseeched us England reporters “don’t kill” Wayne Rooney for his red card. Rooney was so important to England’s future, Eriksson emphasised. Danny Murphy relayed a story on talkSPORT last week about requesting permission to leave camp because he and his then wife were trying for a child via IVF and the moment had arrived. Sven immediately gave Murphy his blessing and good luck wishes. “Just be back for breakfast at 10am tomorrow,” Sven told Murphy. It’s why his players loved him. He cared.

Remember to enjoy life. And Sven did. So many memories. Sven relaxing over a whisky in the piano bar at the wonderful Albatross in Cascais, near Lisbon, at 2004. Sven relaxing on the edge of the dance-floor at Tavern On The Green in Central Park, New York. Sven was admiring the dancing, moving only to raise his empty glass for topping up with white wine. “I have a good life, maybe too good, I have to pay for it,” Sven reflected in his film.

Before appointing Sven, the FA International Committee’s David Dein asked Eriksson’s agent, the charismatic Athole Still, whether his client had any weaknesses. Still, as great a lover of life as Sven, replied swiftly and honestly, “Women”. Within a week of arriving in London, Eriksson was in the boardroom at Dein’s Highbury and met a divorcee friend of Dein’s wife, Barbara. Sven zeroed in on her, and on hearing that she designed lampshades, immediately responded “I need some lampshades!” Dein quietly pointed out to Sven, that no he didn’t need any help with lampshades as he was living in a hotel. But that was Sven. Utterly charming, making women feel they were the only person in the world, let alone the room. He’d talk poetry, art, even lampshades to woo them.

I once had lunch with Sven at Skylon in the Festival Hall, London, and the interview was going brilliantly, I had Sven’s full attention until the table service changed for some reason from waiter to waitress. Sven’s answers became shorter and more distracted. I mentioned this to Sven once and he smiled that ready smile of his, perhaps stirring more memories of good times.

Sven couldn’t understand prurient English interest in his private life. He was unmarried, so he found all the talk of “affairs” with single women bizarre. He laughed at the English Viz-style approach to sex, especially when Nuts magazine delivered a water-bed to Soho Square, the FA HQ at the time.

Remember grace under pressure, and humour. “You’ll have to call and yell at someone else,” Sven said to an enraged Sir Alex Ferguson over the Manchester United manager’s annoyance that Sven was taking Rooney, still recuperating from a broken metatarsal, to the 2006 World Cup. Sven had huge respect for Ferguson but also did a marvellous impersonation of taking an ear-bashing call from Ferguson and holding the phone away from his ear.

Sven was the embodiment of wry composure in press conferences called to discuss the latest match but often more focused on his latest escapade. He brushed aside all the headlines about him and Ulrika, him and Faria, him and Nancy. He let them all down in varying ways, yet there are Faria and Nancy in the film, enthusing about Sven.

Sven was very human. He fell for beautiful, charismatic women, and fell for fake sheikhs and too-good-to-be-true owners. There was a naivety to Sven, almost an overly trusting nature, who was lured into a sting about a new owner of Aston Villa wanting him as manager, and then falling for a conman owner of Notts County with connections to North Korea. Sven, employed as Notts director of football, duly flew to Pyongyang seeking investment. “It looks like a stupid story and maybe it was stupid but I really believed in it,” Sven said in the film.

Remember he was generous. With Notts facing bankruptcy, Sven waived the £2.5m he was owed. Remember he was working at such a level – with due respect to the world’s oldest professional football club - because he’d been let down by a financial adviser. It took a lot to get Eriksson angry but he claimed to have been duped by this financial character so badly that he feared losing his beloved lakeside home in Sunne, Sweden.

Sven was in China by then, working for Guangzhou R&F, in lucrative exile as he fought to revive his finances. He messaged me, wanting to give his version of events. I was on holiday on the Norfolk coast, the signal was poor, to the Broads let alone abroad, and I had to stand on a tree stump for better reception. The line kept breaking yet Sven was remarkably patient. He spoke openly and precisely about his losses. Typical of Sven, he engaged in some polite chit-chat before the meat of the interview, and at the end apologised for interrupting my holiday. I didn’t care. “Sven’s anger over lost £10m” made quite a splash. He eventually got an apology from the financial advisor. But little financial recompense.

Remember the loyalty. Beckham, Rooney, Roberto Mancini and Kasper Schmeichel are all in his film, talking of their love and respect for Sven.

So how good a coach was he for England? When appointed, Sven was reigning Serie A Coach of the Year ahead of Giovanni Trapattoni, Marcello Lippi, Carlo Ancelotti and Fabio Capello. He lost one of 24 qualifiers, took England from 17th in the world rankings to fourth, and reached three quarter-finals. Gareth Southgate’s record is markedly superior. Sven always wanted Southgate to do well because he wanted England to do well but he did point out that he looked a better coach with each passing year of hurt.

Yet Sven should have done better with the squad he had. He was fortunate to inherit some magnificent young players coming through, Ashley Cole (20), Steven Gerrard (21), Michael Owen (21) and Rio Ferdinand (22), eventually a teenaged Rooney. He had an issue in goal with David Seaman coming to the end of his international career, and had to cope with that hiatus before Joe Hart pushed through. But the talent was immense. Sven under-achieved.

But Sven-Goran Eriksson taught us plenty, not least to seize every moment in life. As he said in the film, “Whoever it is that said ‘life is too short’ is right.” Yet Sven filled his life with so much. Remember the good times. RIP Sven.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Statement from Sven’s children Lina and Johan …

[Prime Video Sport UK @primevideosport]

Follow the highs and lows of Sven-Göran Eriksson's life, including the heartbreaking reality of his cancer diagnosis.

𝐒𝐯𝐞𝐧, a new feature-length documentary, available now on Prime Video 📺

[Guardian Weekly @guardianweekly]

Sven review – this portrait of the ex-England manager is deeply profound https://t.co/7KzZHFuE93

[Noah Media Group @noahmediagroup]

🤸 The pressure of the Olympics is like no other and one wrong step could change everything.

As the Paris 2024 Olympics begin today, we wanted to take a look back at our documentary series All Around, which followed three of the world’s top gymnasts - Morgan Hurd (USA), Angelina Melnikova (Russia) and Chen Yile (China) - as they balanced life as teenagers with dreams of winning gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The full All Around docuseries can be found now on the Olympic channel.
📺 - https://t.co/y9MOhfBiH4

#NoahMediaGroup | #OlympicGames | #Paris2024

[Prime Video Sport UK @primevideosport]

“It’s cancer I have, but don’t be sorry… smile and remember the good times”

The official trailer of 𝐒𝐯𝐞𝐧, a new documentary on the extraordinary life of Sven-Goran Eriksson, coming soon to Prime Video.

[Disney+ UK @DisneyPlusUK]

It's time to buckle up...

#Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story is now streaming on Disney+.

[Empire @empiremagazine]

Keanu Reeves digs into a racing tale in the trailer for docuseries Brawn: The Impossible Formula One Story.

Find it here: https://t.co/4CmYHY1IDC

[Noah Media Group @noahmediagroup]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A stirring reminder that sport is never just about sport. On and off the field, Hills’ love letter to rugby league was bone-crunchingly effective.”

An amazing reception to our latest documentary with @adamhillscomedy, ‘Grow Another Foot’, this weekend! 🙌

Thank you @theipaper for the great review!
Read ➡️ https://t.co/3y1hTF7GOy

📺 Stream ‘Adam Hills: Grow Another Foot’ now on @Channel4 ➡️ https://t.co/vG011NvGCb

#GrowAnotherFoot

[Michael Hogan @michaelhogan]

Tonight’s TV tips: at 7pm, Yuja Wang at #Proms on BBC4. At 8, Millionaire Hoarders on C4. At 9pm, #Billions on Sky Atlantic, 8/10 Cats Does Countdown on C4 or new drama #TheReunion on ITV1. At 9.30, The Power of Parker on BBC1. At 11.05, Adam Hills: Grow Another Foot on C4 #telly

[John McKenna @pjmc10]

Tomorrow night. Our latest film from @noahmediagroup and the amazing @adamhillscomedy - and an amazing sport that deserves this spotlight!
Rugby League - what a sport! Please watch if you can!!!
@Channel4 @Saints1890 @RedVeeDotNet @TheRFL @leagueexpress

[Chris Johnson @ChrisNotMatt]

On tonight! (or if you're in bed by then - on demand at a less comatose hour of your choosing!) Very proud to have worked on this, it's really good fun, touching and inspiring. Plus you don't need to know or even like sport to enjoy it. Check it out if you can

[Warrington Wolves Community Foundation @WWRLFoundation]

If you like sport, set yourself a reminder to watch @adamhillscomedy new documentary, Grow Another Foot, which airs at 11.05pm tomorrow, 11/8/23 after @TheLastLeg on @Channel4

#growanotherfoot

[Channel 4 Sport @C4Sport]

Adam Hills shares his journey to the Rugby League World Cup 🏉

Watch and stream 'Grow Another Foot' Friday night after @TheLastLeg on @Channel4 📺

#C4League

[John McKenna @pjmc10]

Coming this Friday, the latest documentary from @noahmediagroup and our brilliant friend @adamhillscomedy. It’s been pick of the day across a lot of the papers over the weekend!! And it’s a joyous film that we are very proud of!

[Adam Hills @adamhillscomedy]

Grow Another Foot, my documentary about the Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup is on @Channel4 this Friday at 11.05pm. The reviews are in, and they’re great! It’ll be on @ParamountPlusAU in Australia from Sep 1.