Plot Synopsis

FEVER PITCH: THE RISE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE is a one-hour documentary series that explores the origin of the Premier League in the early 1990s, its rise to prominence, and how it came to dominate the world of professional soccer. FEVER PITCH made its U.S. debut on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 9pm ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. Season 1 episodes include:

Episode 1 (U.S. debut on Sunday, November 6, 2022): Badly marketed, under-invested and with hooliganism rampant, football was in the doldrums... and then came Italia '90. Success for England on the pitch, created heroes in the form of "Gazza," Gary Lineker and the fatherly Bobby Robson. Together they captured the imagination of a new generation of football fans. This new euphoria hadn't gone unnoticed by the chairman of the "Big 5" clubs -- Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Everton. They'd been waiting for an opportunity to create a new league which would take football out of the dark ages and revamp the sport for a new era. This was it, football's Big Bang. At the same time, Rupert Murdoch's new satellite channel Sky TV was hemorrhaging money. He desperately needed a solution to stem the flow, and decided to gamble everything on a 300 million pound investment to secure the television rights for the new Premier League.

Episode 2 (U.S. debut on Sunday, November 13, 2022): With back-to-back titles in the first two seasons of the Premier League, Alex Ferguson has his eyes set on building a legacy at the seemingly invincible Manchester United. Thirty miles away at unfashionable Blackburn Rovers, the multi-millionaire owner Jack Walker has other ideas. Having finished fourth and then second to United, he and his manager Kenny Dalglish are determined to go one better. With a personal fortune of 360 million pounds, he has the money and the appetite to spend his way to success. After buying Alan Shearer for a British transfer record, he goes one better and smashes it again, by signing Chris Sutton for 5 million pounds. But the rapid injection of money into the game -- players' salaries are hitting 10,000 pounds a week -- is starting to create a "them and us" divide with the fans.

Episode 3 (U.S. debut on Sunday, November 20, 2022): With a moment of audacious brilliance, David Beckham elevates himself into the national consciousness. His legendary 60-yard wonder goal from the half-way line against Wimbledon becomes the moment that changes his life. This episode explores the rise of the celebrity footballer, symbolized by Beckham in the mid '90s. Part of a feted new breed of footballers who were starting to resemble rock stars more than sportsmen, when Beckham started a relationship with "Posh Spice" Victoria Adams, the pair are catapulted on to the pages of every gossip column.

Episode 4 (U.S. debut on Sunday, November 27, 2022): Having won four out of five titles since the start of the Premier League, Manchester United and Alex Ferguson seem unstoppable. In London, Arsenal have barely had a look-in, but vice chairman David Dein has been busy plotting. He introduces an unknown, bespectacled Frenchman to a waiting press at Highbury, and announces that he is Arsenal's new manager. Arsene Wenger looks more like a history teacher than a football manager; the players have never heard of him. Yet Wenger is about to have a huge impact, not just on the Premier League but on English football, by introducing modern coaching techniques and lifestyle and dietary improvements.
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Season 2 of FEVER PITCH: THE RISE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE made its U.S. debut on Monday, August 7, 2023 at 9pm ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. Episodes include:

Episode 1 (U.S. debut on Monday, August 7, 2023): The Premier League's first foreign owner, Roman Abramovich, arrives at Chelsea seeking instant success. At the other end of the table, Leeds United struggle to keep pace, as a series of high risk financial decisions come back to bite them.

Episode 2 (U.S. debut on Monday, August 14, 2023):

Episode 3 (U.S. debut on Monday, August 21, 2023): Teenage sensations Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Pennant make spectacular Premier League debuts. But as money pours into the league, their new found fame comes with no end of pitfalls.