Making Escape To Victory

Making Escape To Victory

From Sporting Witness by BBC World Service

April 25, 2026 · 10 min

About this episode

This episode explores the making of the film 'Escape To Victory' and features insights from Russell Osman about filming with football legends.

The 1981 film Escape To Victory is a World War Two tale of a football match in a prisoner of war camp in Nazi Germany starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Max von Sydow. The climax of the movie is the match between the POWs and the Germans. In the prisoners' team against the Nazis, Caine and Stallone play alongside actual footballers including Bobby Moore, the legendary Pele and former England and Ipswich Town player Russell Osman. He tells Maggie Ayre what it was like filming with both Hollywood and footballing greats. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever…

People in this episode

Host: Maggie Ayre

Guest: Russell Osman

Topics covered

  • film
  • football
  • prisoner of war
  • World War Two
  • sporting history

Keywords

  • Escape To Victory
  • football match
  • prisoner of war camp
  • Sylvester Stallone
  • Michael Caine
  • Bobby Moore
  • Pele
  • Russell Osman

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC World Service

Books & works: Escape To Victory

More episodes of Sporting Witness

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Sporting Witness podcast page.