New documentary YER MEN IN SPAIN lifts the lid on Northern Ireland’s 1982 World Cup experience
Date Posted: December 5, 2022
Footage of the Northern Ireland football squad sending shockwaves through the 1982 World Cup will be on show in a new documentary created by Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. To coincide with the 40th anniversary of Northern Ireland reaching the World Cup, YER MEN IN SPAIN will screen on Sunday 11th December at 7.30pm in the Odeon, Belfast.
The film is edited from over eight hours of footage of the late Billy Bingham’s squad featuring Gerry Armstrong, Pat Jennings, Martin O’Neill, Billy Hamilton and Norman Whiteside on and off the pitch. It features interviews and vox pops from fans in Spain and in pubs and venues across Northern Ireland captured by UTV. This includes footage never seen before.
Camera operators from UTV were granted access to all areas of the 1982 squad’s movements in Spain for the World Cup where Northern Ireland beat home country Spain and reached the quarter finals. They were also welcomed into the family home of Gerry Armstrong and caught fan reaction at home and abroad as the team defied expectations.
The team at Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive reviewed 21 cans of footage before assembling this fly-on-the-wall style feature-length documentary.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Ireland Screen commented: “The purpose of the Digital Film Archive is to safeguard moving image heritage in a way that is stimulating, entertaining and sustainable and the YER MEN IN SPAIN documentary does just that. By unearthing and piecing together never before seen footage of the Northern Ireland World Cup squad in 1982, the Digital Film Archive team has created a way for local football fans to immerse themselves in such a historic celebration forty years later.”
The documentary screening will be followed by a Q&A with footballers Gerry Armstrong and Billy Hamilton. Screened in partnership with the Belfast Film Festival, tickets are £5 each and can be purchased by following this link Yer Men In Spain (ticketsolve.com)
Former Northern Ireland international footballer Gerry Armstrong who scored the winning goal in the 47th minute of a first phase match against Spain in the World Cup, at the Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain, 25th June 1982 commented: “This feature-length documentary will showcase the greatest football moment in the history of the Irish FA and it really is a must watch for the fans. I’m really looking forward to watching the behind-the-scenes footage I’ve never seen before with all the fans next Sunday.”
