Just a fortnight on from Manchester City releasing their treble documentary on Netflix, Manchester United have issued a timely reminder that they did it first by releasing a trailer for their own on Amazon Prime Video.
Oh, we’re about to enjoy some serious online debate and not at all petty social media spats over the next few days. Play nice, everyone…
Simply entitled 99, the new documentary series from fellow streaming giants Amazon will cover Man United‘s hallowed 1998/99 season, where they became the first-ever English club in history to win a treble and went down as one of the greatest teams in football history.
Considered the holy trinity of trophies in Europe – winning the first division in your country, the main domestic cup and the Champions League – the true ‘continental’ treble has only ever been completed by eight teams and the Red Devils are clearly looking to capitalise on the same media buzz as City.
While Man City are still well and truly basking in the glory of achieving the incredible footballing feat, with the possibility of defending all three titles still very much on the cards,
There have been multiple productions celebrating United’s lifting that same trio of trophies in the past, from The Treble season review film released in 1999 itself to the likes of The Impossible Dream released on its 20th anniversary in 2019 and others, but this latest is set to be the comprehensive look yet.
Showing “never-before-seen footage” and featuring the stories “told by those who were there – including David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Peter Schmeichel, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and more. documentary” – it promises to serve as the “definitive documentary” of United’s treble season.
Naturally, there’s already plenty of discussion rearing its head over which team was more impressive.
Amazon has scheduled 99 for a 17 May release date, just over a month and a half on from City releasing Together: Treble Winners, not to mention dropping the trailer itself barely a fortnight after the fact.
Although many have been quick to point out that the docuseries omits any discussion of their ongoing FFP charges – with Paddy Power even spoofing it as a Netflix true crime drama – it has received largely positive reviews for its fly-on-the-wall look at one of the best teams in the world.
Set to be fittingly spread over three parts, 99 is also being co-created by three different parties: Ventureland, Gary Neville’s production company, Buzz16.2, and David Beckham’s Leigh-based production house, Studio 99.
The latter were obviously heavily involved in the recent Beckham Netflix series, so fans of that can expect similar vibes from Amazon’s documentary on United’s own treble season and the momentous year that was 1999.
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Featured Images — Amazon Prime Video