Safety Net is a short film made by Alfie Beard, a British filmmaker from the University of Derby. It follows two protagonists: young football player Ali, and his devoted father. Supported by his father’s unwavering love over years, Ali is trying to pursue a professional career in football, yet finds himself facing a brutal reality that might crush both his passion and his future. The heartfelt sports drama, about sacrifice and chasing dreams in a working-class family, raised questions about how we can build a safety net for football players beyond the pitch. Zoe Xu spoke to Alfie about his aspiration as a sports filmmaker.
Zoe: What drew you to tell this particular story?
Alfie: I was very keen on making a film about sports due to my love for the genre. Originally, the story was about a boxer whose career was never allowed to take off, but we ended up making a training montage instead. The story felt much more suited to football, due to the countless young athletes who are denied the chance to turn professional in the sport. Less than 1% of academy players will go on to sign professional contracts, after sacrificing years of hard work. The story was loosely based off of one of my friends from University who had once been an academy goalkeeper, and I also have relatives who are currently playing at football academies.
Zoe: What fascinates you about sports dramas?
Alfie: What draws me to sports dramas are the layers to the characters’ struggles. Typically, a protagonist will have to overcome physical barriers and improve their craft in order to reach their goal – but they also face mental barriers as well, making the stakes even higher. I’m also a big fan of sports in general, so pairing it with film is a mixture of perfect ingredients.
Zoe: The title is very interesting. It works as a metaphor for family support and a literal reference to the football goal net. How did you come up with this title?
Alfie: This story was partly inspired by a charity called ‘The After Academy’, which first brought these issues to my attention years ago. When researching for this film, I watched one of their videos, where big football stars like Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold spoke with former academy players who didn’t make the cut. They all spoke about a need for measures to be put in place for these young players when they’re suddenly cut from their academies – a safety net. That’s when I finally settled on the name.
Zoe: In the final scene, the father arrives at the football field first, followed by the son. What meaning or message were you trying to convey with this choice?
Alfie: In the original ending for the film, Ali’s dad went to the park alone, and he wasn’t joined by his son. This ending was quite bleak, as it showed that the academy system had damaged their relationship beyond repair. However, it just didn’t feel right for our film, so we re-shot the ending and had Ali follow his dad to the park to have a kick-about. This is to show that even after devastating news, life can eventually go on, with healing and the support of others. Ali doesn’t let his disappointment at the academy stand in the way of his love for his father, and his passion for football. Although he might not ever be a professional player, there is still far more life to experience.
Zoe: The father’s love is a powerful thread. How did you balance the father-son relationship and Ali’s own inner world?
Alfie: In many ways, Ali’s father is actually the protagonist of the story as much as his son is. In real life, all of these young players have families who make many sacrifices to support their dream – driving miles away on cold nights or early hours of the morning so that their children may have a chance at greatness. This approach really allowed us to amplify the father-son relationship in the film, as both of the characters were deeply invested in this journey, making the rejection a massive threat to not only Ali’s career, but their relationship as well. Having Ali’s parents be separated added another layer, as his father was able to bond with his son over joining the academy from a young age, making it something special and sacred in their journey.
Zoe: Sacrifice is also an important message in this film. In one sequence, Ali gives up part of his personal life for football training, only to be rejected for a professional contract in the next scene. How did you decide to structure it and what did you want audiences to feel in that moment about the cost of chasing a dream?
Alfie: The film features a montage where Ali is growing older, from a child into a young man, all whilst he’s at the academy. It seems as though he’s destined for greatness, especially after saving a penalty to win a crucial game for his youth team. This is followed by an interaction with an old friend from his school days – a friend who he’d certainly like to see more often. However, his football training stands in the way of this. We placed this scene here in order to show some of the things that Ali was missing out on because of his dedication to his career from such a young age, so that in the rejection scene that takes place just after, we truly understand the amount of time and energy that this young man has invested, all to no avail. It’s a shattering reality for so many young people, and anyone who’s ever chased a dream and failed to realise it, can relate to it.
Zoe: The contrast between the football field and the rejection scene feels distinct. Was that a conscious choice in your use of color?
Alfie: Our visuals were heavily inspired by some great films; Rocky, Whiplash, The Iron Claw and Moneyball to name a few. Our use of colour and lighting was intentional – the film feels more nostalgic during Ali’s childhood, and very bright, almost dream-like during his time at the academy. However, when reality starts to set in, the film becomes a lot more melancholy, with increased shadows and muted colours, as well as costumes using darker shades.
Zoe: The working-class backdrop feels very specific. How important was the location and social context to shaping Ali’s world?
Alfie: Football is the world’s sport – from the superstar footballer on the international stage, to the group of impoverished children in the street: as long as you have a ball, you can play it. It was very important to us that we tell a working-class story, which also added another layer to the theme of chasing dreams, and further heartbreak to the harsh realities of life. For many people trying to go professional in football, it’s far more than just a game – it can be a way of escaping financial hardships and achieving a better life for your family.
Zoe: What conversations do you hope Safety Net sparks among viewers who might not even be football fans?
Alfie: We hope that people will watch our film and understand the sacrifice that these children and families make in order to chase their dreams. Football should be fun – after all, it’s a game. We shouldn’t discourage those who want to turn it into something more than that, but what we must do is prepare them for a life outside of the game, and ensure that there is a plan B in place at all times. Help them to understand that they might not become a superstar, and have a safety net in place so that they don’t fall flat on their faces. It’s the responsibility of these football clubs to take proper care of these children , and treat them as humans, not just as players.
Zoe: Do you have any upcoming sports films projects?
Alfie: We are currently in the process of starting our own sports advertisement agency called ‘Kit Lens Media’, an idea that was conceived on the back of the success of ‘Safety Net’. It’s our hope that if this business is successful, we can continue to create engaging short films, and the likelihood that we dip back into the sports genre is very high, as there are so many other important messages we’d like to convey with our filmmaking. As Cristiano Ronaldo once said, ‘we all have a great story to tell.’
Safety Net has been selected for the In Competition section at our annual film festival Odyssey 2025 and screened at Rich Mix, London. It is now available for online streaming from 18 September unti 30 September.
