When the Flying Over an Olive Grove:The Remarkable Story of Fred Spiksley - a flawed football hero book was first released in October 2016 the first group to see it were journalists at the England v Malta match at Wembley.
Free copies were snapped up. Henry Winter said: “Amazing Old Photographs” whilst quite a few of those present were quick to comment “it will make a good film.” This was a response that became a very familiar one when the authors took the book across the country at a series of football history evenings including a 300-strong gathering held at Hillsborough to celebrate Sheffield Wednesday’s 150 anniversary in September 2017. Similar backing for a film came in many newspaper articles, TV and radio interviews about the book. Fans of different clubs got in touch to say we should make a documentary.
Armed with this public support a Kickstarter fund raising appeal was promoted and this, plus some other smaller initiatives, raised a five figure sum. Particularly generous was the Wednesdayite fans group. The production process has commenced.
Covid UPDATE!
2020 and 2021 delivered a massive disruption to the production timeline. The project continues, and we aim to wrap filming in summer 2022.