89 review – on-the-ball doc revisits Arsenal's last-minute glory

An easy-going, watchable documentary about one of the great feelgood-underdog stories in the history of British sport. After being written off as boring, boring failures, Arsenal FC triumphed against Liverpool at Anfield in the final match of the 1988-89 season. 

It was a uniquely important era that included the horror of Hillsborough and preceded the great resurgence of football with Italia 90. And of course the great Arsenalaissance of ’89 was made mythic by Nick Hornby in his classic memoir Fever Pitch: the 1997 movie version starring Colin Firth actually made the Liverpool v Arsenal match its euphoric finale, in tandem with its romance plot, and there is almost a tension in this film waiting for Hornby to make his talking-head appearance, and then afterwards something anticlimactic, knowing that he has so much more to say. 

As well as Arsenal fans such as Hornby and Alan Davies, the film speaks to journalists such as Amy Lawrence and of course the great warriors themselves, including Paul Merson and George Graham, and there is a great poignancy as they go back to their old Highbury ground in north London, now redeveloped into pricey flats. A pleasantly nostalgic documentary, maybe chiefly for fans.