| Director: | Michael Corrente |
| Producer: | Robert Duvall |
| Starring: | Robert Duvall Ally McCoist Brian Cox Kirsty Mitchell Cole Hauser Michael Keaton Martin Owens Scott G. Anderson Morag Hood Libby Langdon Catherine Figgins |
| Music: | Mark Knopfler |
| Runtime: | 114 min |
| Country: | United States, United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
A Shot at Glory is a film by Michael Corrente produced in 1999 and released in 2002, starring Robert Duvall and the Scottish football player Ally McCoist. It had limited commercial and critical success. The film features the fictional Scottish football club Kilnockie FC, based on a Second Division Scottish Football League club, as they attempt to reach their first ever Scottish Cup Final.[1] [2] The final game is against Rangers.
Robert Duvall plays the club manager, Gordon McLeod. Jackie McQuillan (Ally McCoist) is the team's striker, an ageing player on the verge of retirement, who has recently been signed from Arsenal. McQuillan is a legendary ex-Celtic player who, as well as being married to McLeod's daughter, has a reputation for being troublesome. The two men put their personal problems aside as they try to prevent the small fishing town of Kilnockie from losing its club, which is owned by an American businessman (played by Michael Keaton) who wants to move the club to Dublin in Ireland.
Kilnockie Team
Queen of the South Team
Rangers Team
The film's working title was The Cup.[3]
Filming took place at several locations across Scotland, including Boghead Park (the former ground of Dumbarton), Dumfries club Queen of the South's Palmerston Park ground, Kilmarnock's Rugby Park ground and Hampden Park. The majority of scenes representing the town of Kilnockie were filmed in Crail, Fife. Several extras in the film were then players of Raith Rovers, including future Celtic player Didier Agathe. Duvall regularly went to see Raith Rovers to learn from John McVeigh, the manager, on whom his character was based. The movie is loosely based on the cup exploits of Airdrieonians, who as a small town team reached two Scottish Cup Finals, several League Cup semi-finals, and qualified for the European Cup Winners Cup in the 1990s. John McVeigh was Assistant Manager at Airdrie when they enjoyed this success. The cast featured several past and current Airdrie players in both speaking and non speaking roles. Robert Duvall was impressed with Ally McCoist acting.[4]
Former Celtic player Jimmy Johnstone and Rangers' Jim Baxter were among the star names who turned down roles in the film.[3]
The film received mixed reviews.[5]
The movie was the subject of a feature length podcast review by Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?