'I was hooked' - Ricky Gervais makes surprise Leeds United admission to Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane

Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais has revealed that ‘Take Us Home: Leeds United’ was one of a number of football documentaries that made ‘absolutely love’ football again.

The Office and After Life creator appeared on the most recent episode of the Overlap alongside Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Jill Scott. He opened up on how watching Sunderland Til I Die helped him get back into football. The Netflix series followed Sunderland as they were relegated to League One. His new-found enthusiasm continued into other shows, included Amazon’s behind-the-scenes look at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa during the 2018-19 season.

The series is narrated by Leeds fan, and now investor, Russell Crowe and first appeared on Amazon Prime in August 2019. It followed the Whites as they reached the Championship play-offs but lost to Derby County over two legs. The series delved into the ‘spygate’ saga as well as Dan James’ failed January move from Swansea City along with Leeds’ promotion battle. Amazon returned for a two-episode second season as Leeds secured promotion to the Premier League in 2020 as Championship winners. The show displayed the scenes from inside Elland Road once Leeds’ promotion was confirmed, and how the players celebrated with Bielsa.

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Fans were unable to be inside the stadium for Leeds’ promotion with the Covid-19 pandemic taking hold and supporters banned from attending large events. For Gervais, such documentaries are what re-ignited his love of the game.

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Speaking on the Overlap, Gervais said: “What really got me back into (football), was a documentary, is it Sunderland Till I Die? The fact that it was like a religion to them, the whole community was involved, I thought it was a really well-made thing. I watched the Man City one, then I watched the Leeds one, then I watched the (Mikel) Arteta one and I was hooked, and now I’m fascinated with it – I watch every game that’s on TV, I absolutely love it again.”