'Sport isn't usually that funny': new docuseries goes inside the Auckland Football Club

It's not easy making a great sports doco because you need a "roller coaster", says Dame Julie Christie. After 40 years in the game, she says a lot of trust and a bit of serendipity take Forever Auckland FC to that level.

"[Auckland FC] could have finished middle of the table. What happened if no one got injured? If there hadn't been a roller coaster, what would we have, you know?

"Everybody delivered the stories to us. They put them in our lap… Episode 7 is possibly the best piece of sports television I've ever seen. That's how good some of the things that happen are," she tells Saturday Morning.

With any unscripted television series, there's also a risk that the people being filmed will get annoyed and start "slamming the door", Christie says.

But although the players sometimes dissed their own haircuts after seeing footage from Forever Auckland FC, they didn't object to any of it.

As television "talent", Kiwis often lack the "wonderful" ability of Americans to verbalise every little thought they have, she says, so it can be really hard to get the best out of local people on-camera.

On Forever Auckland FC, though, Christie and the rest of the almost-all-female crew learned to hang back and let the action unfold, especially as the players and coaches started trusting the cameraperson more and more.

"Everybody delivered the stories to us. They put them in our lap… Episode 7 is possibly the best piece of sports television I've ever seen. That's how good some of the things that happen are."

Sport isn't usually that funny, Christie says, but Forever Auckland FC delivers a surprising number of laughs, including coaches Jonathan Gould and Danny Hay acting like "an old married couple" after moving in together.

"Absolutely gold" is how Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker describes the comedic duo of Gould and Hay, whose other highlights include Francis DeVries becoming Player of the Year - after working "in an Ikea nuts and bolts screw factory in Sweden or something" - and Hiroki Sakai just being a "star".

With Auckland's diverse young football fan base booming, it was an amazing opportunity to capture the rise of the local A-League team after its launch - with no players - in March 2024.

While Forever Auckland FC was filming, the single cameraperson embedded with the team "practically became an extra member of the squad", Becker says.

"The guys already loved him, and they were just natural around him.

"I was most worried about Steve [Corica], our head coach, was he had had a bad experience in his previous role at Sydney FC with a similar documentary, and he hated it."

But although Corica wanted "a bit of tactical stuff" taken out of the final cut and asked for final approval of each episode, he hasn't even watched them yet, he says.

"He's been that relaxed with the process. He's been that happy and confident about it that he's signed it off."

While seeing his own mug on a massive screen at last night's premiere of Forever Auckland FC was "confronting without a doubt", what he felt more was emotional.

"I had those tingles, and I also had a couple of moments where I was sort of welling up."

For the players, the docuseries is "something to rib each other about" and also something that'll be really valuable to them in the future, Becker says.

"I think it's really special for them."

Forever Auckland FCairs weekly on Sky Open from Wednesday, 27 August at 7:30pm with all episodes available on Sky Go, Neon and Sky Sport Now from this date.