On a Saturday in 2011 Jasper Spanjaart, a documentary-maker from the Netherlands, tuned into what he thought would be a promising football fixture in the English FA Cup: Manchester United against the ultimate underdog: Crawley Town. David versus Golliath.
After 90 minutes, Jasper had turned into an immense fan of Crawley’s curly-haired midfielder called Sergio Torres. It was clear to him he was no Maradona, but he couldn’t help but love his grit, paired with a technique that had seemingly been given to him at birth.
Aged 22, Sergio Torres quit his factory-job in Mar del Plata, Argentina, packed his bags with clothes and $300 cash, and got on a flight to England. With a dream to play the game that he loved. What would happen next, even he couldn’t have possibly imagined.
It wasn’t easy. He was pinned down against a car after a dodgy encounter alongside his Cameroonian agent. He worked morning-shifts at a Boots warehouse, and then trained in the evening, before turning in for the night… in the club’s boardroom.
Now, at the age of 36 and still playing semi-professional football in 6th division, Sergio is keen to tell his story, after a career that took him from the basement of the English football to playing Old Trafford.
Throughout Jasper's childhood, his favourite film was Goal! Something clicked when he saw the story of Santiago Muñez, played by Kuno Becker, who left everything behind to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer in a country completely unknown to him.
Of course, Santiago Muñez’ story was all fiction, but wherever he looked in sports, Jasper always seem to end up rooting for the ‘underdog’. Sergio Torres didn’t end up signing for Real Madrid… but the story, in essence, is eerily similar.
Jasper wants to discover the true story of Sergio Torres. Together with Sergio, he wants to visit the places where ‘The Unknown Torres’ faced adversity, and speak to those who know him, and his story, best.
To do this documentary, they need your help. This story has to be told in a way that does it justice. And that simply requires some type of budget….
Who are we?
I’m Jasper Spanjaart, a 22-year-old documentary-maker from the Netherlands.
I’ve been holding a camera since the age of three, and in 2016, I started my own video-company called SPNJRT. I love sports, and would love nothing more than to make The Unknown Torres.
The ‘he’ in all of this is 36-year-old Sergio Torres, and his favourite movie is ‘John Q’, starring Denzel Washington. He currently plays semi-professional football at Eastbourne Borough, while working full-time as the Senior Football Development Officer at the Russell Martin Foundation.
His life-story can’t be summed up in a few sentences, which is why he, in 2013, co-wrote a book: The Sergio Torres Story: From the Brick Factory to Old Trafford. He also loves sports, and has been wanting to make The Unknown Torres for a long time.
What is your money going to do?
It turns out being a (semi)-professional footballer in England doesn’t mean you can just fund an entire documentary. Yeah, it surprised me too. Your money will mainly go towards our travelling costs. To be able to fly to Argentina, and travel within the United Kingdom, we would be extremely thankful for any loose change you could offer us. If there is any budget left after that, we would look to invest in an additional camera man – as well as some additional camera gear.
What are you getting in return?
Any contribution is greatly appreciated, and we will update all of you at various times during the production via e-mail. Other perks for contributors who wish to donate that little bit more are listed below. Anyone who donates over £75 will also receive a signed copy of Sergio’s book: The Sergio Torres Story.
£10. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD REWARD
First of all, we’ll provide you with updates of our journey. You will also receive a digital version of The Unknown Torres upon release.
£25. SIGNED DVD
Digital documentary? Yeah, pretty cool. You’ll get that. But a real-life-non-digital DVD that you can grab and play at any time? That’s just nicer, isn’t it? We’ll send you a signed cop of The Unknown Torres DVD upon release!
£50. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD + NAME IN CREDITS
You will receive a digital version of The Unknown Torres in your mailbox, and, better yet… you’ll have your own name in the end credits! We’ll do our best not to misspell anything
£100. PARTNER LOGO IN DOCUMENTARY
If you want to sponsor us corporately, you can be a part of our wall of sponsors! You’ll get your logo (and name, if you wish) in the documentary as part of our end-credits. Cool way to help us!
£350. CORPORATE LOGO PACKAGE
Want us to be eternally grateful whilst also having your logo in our documentary? That’s perfectly possible! We’ll put your logo in the documentary – prominently we might add - and we’ll also send you the DVD. Otherwise you won’t even be able to see that gorgeous logo, in all its glory, and that would be a shame.
£500. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER + OTHER PERKS
Anyone who donates £500 or more will be named an executive producer on The Unknown Torres. We’ll involve you in the documentary process, you’ll get access to exclusive uncut content & will be able to discuss other options with us. If your dream is to hear Sergio Torres sing you a song in Spanish, we’ll look into it!
If you would like to support this project please click here to donate.
Muchos gracias!
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