The inspiring story of George Dowell, a man who turned compensation from a traffic accident into an act of love for football and his community, has won the Athletic Club Foundation’s film festival’s main accolade
On Sunday, 12 October, the closing night of the 2025 Thinking Football Film Festival, the audience left Bilbao’s Sala BBK completely moved by the British documentary “The Club That George Built” and the subsequent discussion with its protagonist, George Dowell.
George, sitting in his wheelchair and smiling radiantly throughout, gave us a truly unforgettable lesson about life. His story of overcoming adversity is deeply linked to football and community, something that clearly resonated with the Thinking Football crowd, who decided to honour the documentary with the 2025 Audience Award.
Directed by Theo Lee Ray and produced by Howard Cohen, the documentary shows how George rebuilt his life after a car crash which left him permanently paralysed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair.
A football fan and supporter of Worthing FC, a modest but authentic club, George used his compensation settlement to revitalise his local team, which was in decline and drowning in debt.
It was an extraordinary film that put the finishing touch on a fabulous week of football and cinema with thought-provoking films, including the European premiere of Saipan, and brilliant guests, such as the endearing Sammy Lee.
The Thinking Football Audience Award, sponsored by Basque public television network EITB, grants €3,000 to the winning film, an amount that must be allocated in its entirety to a social project or charity chosen by the film’s team.
The Audience Award trophy features a female footballer holding a ball in one arm and a stack of books in the other. Football and culture, hand in hand.
