BT Sport, Noah Media, Rio Ferdinand go South of the River with football docuseries

Rio Ferdinand appears in and exec produces the docuseries

BT Sport Films and UK indie Noah Media Group have teamed up for a three-part docuseries that tells the stories of some of English and international football’s biggest young stars.

South of the River will look at how some of Britain’s best young players, including Jadon Sancho, Joe Gomez, Tammy Abraham, Declan Rice, Ademola Lookman, Ryan Sessegnon, Michail Antonio and Eberechi Eze, have all emerged from the same area of South London.

Executive produced by former Leeds United and England star Rio Ferdinand, who also grew up in south London, the series began production pre-Covid and will be broadcast on BT Sport across the UK from November 23.

Noah’s in-house international sales and distribution arm, NoahX, will handle international sales on behalf of both BT Sport and Noah Media Group.

Created by Noah Media Group’s Gabriel Clarke (Finding Jack Charlton, Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager) and directed by Jay Gill (Out of Their Skin), South of the River will explore the stories of young stars who, in the past three years, have emerged from statistically underprivileged postcodes of South London – now globally recognised as one of the most productive areas for young footballing talent – to the bright lights of multibillion-pound UEFA club competitions.

A central focus of the three-part narrative is the next generation of up-and-coming, ambitious and highly talented youngsters – teenagers from the same area who look up to former and current professional players as role models and are just starting out on their own journeys, facing the same social challenges.

Ferdinand said: “It’s great that the area of London I grew up in is getting the recognition it deserves – it’s a talent factory like no other. You’ll hear from me and many others who, against the odds, have been lucky enough to represent south London in the biggest clubs and international competitions in the world.”

Sally Brown, BT Sport Films executive producer and commissioning editor, added: “Noah Media’s approach to storytelling fits in well with ours and I’m thrilled to be able to add this three-part series to the award-winning BT Sport Films stable. It joins a very exciting autumn line up of titles on BT Sport including the recent Standing Firm: Football’s Windrush Story, Glenn Hoddle: Extra Time and The Special 1.”