History of Football Secures Access to Top Football Stars

HISTORY has landed access to a host of football stars, including Pelé, for its two-week TV programming event History of Football: The Greatest Story Ever Played.

Many renowned football players, managers, coaches and sports broadcasters will be featured in History of Football: The Greatest Story Ever Played. These include Pelé, the only player to win three World Cups; Ryan Giggs, the most decorated player in British history and current manager of the Wales national team; Gary Lineker, England’s record holder for goals scored in World Cup finals; sports broadcaster Louis Van Gaal, a former manager of Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Ajax Amsterdam and Holland; Philipp Lahm, captain of Germany during the 2014 World Cup and current Bayern Munich player; Claudio Ranieri, former manager of Leicester City and current head coach of Nantes; Roy Hodgson, current manager of Crystal Palace in the English Premier League; and Michael Owen, a former striker for Manchester United and the England national team. Others featured include a number of players from the FIFA World Cup-winning teams of 1970, 1978, 1990, 1998 and 2014, including Rivellino, Mario Kempes, Lothar Matthaus, Paul Breitner, Toto Schillaci, Emanuel Petit, Christian Karembeu, Manuel and Philip Lahm. David Villa will continue to represent History of Football as its global press spokesperson.

History of Football: The Greatest Story Ever Played will run on HISTORY in more than 160 territories outside of the U.S., including in Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., as well as across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. In Southeast Asia, the event will run for one week rather than two. Every major territory will present 40-plus hours of content. History of Football: The Greatest Story Ever Played will air 24/7, for 14 days, from May 28 to June 10, and will present a selection of original, globally and locally focused premium series and documentaries, carefully curated films and short-form specials.

The TV event will also take a look at the sporting events that made such football luminaries and players as Pelé, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane, Villa, Rummenigge, Matthäus and Müller, household names around the world. HISTORY around the world will also broadcast locally-sourced TV series and documentaries that will offer a unique lens into each country’s particular passions for football and capture the global anticipation and excitement leading into the 2018 World Cup.

“We are thrilled with the overwhelming support we have received from these and other renowned football icons,” said Patrick Vien, the executive managing director of international at A+E Networks. “Their incredible skill and celebrated accomplishments are the very fabric of HISTORY’s ambitious storytelling effort and we are proud to have each of them on board as we launch History of Football as a global television event.”