Peterborough United received a fee of around £100,000[1] from Sky for access to the changing rooms and for Ron Atkinson to assist the rookie manager Steve Bleasdale.
He had been assistant manager to Mark Wright who had been sacked for allegedly making a racial joke towards one of his players.
However, the club quickly suffered a downturn in form and eventually moved into eighth place after several defeats.
There were several instances during the filming of Atkinson upsetting Bleasdale: Some scenes highlighted the chaos behind the scenes at the club, including a dressing room brawl between Mark Arber and Paul Carden, and Bleasdale rowing with youngsters Sean St Ledger and Danny Crow.
Due to numerous injuries, Bleasdale puts St Ledger back in the side but states that he will play him out of position.
I have had many people flying in from France, Scotland, Portugal and Spain to come and see me wanting to help this club in sponsorship and investment.
"[11] Property businessman Darragh MacAnthony—who previously had no connection with the club—watched the show on television and after a few months purchased the club and later became chairman.
Under MacAnthony's investment and his appointment of Darren Ferguson as the club's manager in 2007, Peterborough gained promotion to League One in 2008 and then to the Championship in 2009.
[13] Bleasdale spoke openly to the media expressing his disappointment in how the documentary was edited and criticised Atkinson, claiming he "didn't learn anything" from him.
[14][15] In 2021, Fry said of Bleasdale’s decision to resign: "Obviously no manager likes to be told who to play, but as owner of the football club I had to pay the bills.
"[16] Crow was seen as a big prospect but he left Peterborough on a free transfer in 2008 and signed for rivals Cambridge United.
[17] St Ledger joked about suing Sky TV after claiming the programme showed him as the team's "bad boy".
"[12] Lloyd Opara, the striker brought in by Bleasdale instead of Atkinson's suggestion of Stefan Moore, left the club the next season and never played in the Football League again.