Creator Mary Young Leckie acknowledged Footballers' Wives as an inspiration, but chose to create a similar series about ice hockey rather than directly adapting Footballers' Wives, as she felt that some elements of the original series—particularly the broad campiness of some British humour—would not translate well to a Canadian audience. In South Africa, kykNet launched Getroud met rugby or "Married to Rugby", an Afrikaans series in 2009, which became a nightly soap opera before being cancelled in 2022. In addition to being influenced by Footballers' Wives, it was also inspired by Friday Night Lights. Home releases Series 1 through 5 have been released on DVD in the United Kingdom and Australia, and Series 1 through 3 have been released on DVD in the United States. All five series were re-released in the UK by Acorn Media in Dolby Digital and with new artwork. Acorn also released a "Complete Collection" box set featuring all five series, and both series of Footballers' Wives Extra Time. Legacy On Saturday 15 July 2006 in the UK, the BBC made a spoof mini-episode entitled The Last Ever, Ever Footballers' Wives that was broadcast as part of Sport Relief live telethon. The six-minute episode featured four cast members from the last season, Zöe Lucker, Sarah Barrand, Laila Rouass, Halacy Kurenski and Ben Richards, who played their respective roles, with Sport Relief host Graham Norton playing new Sparks captain Brendan Spunk. The Guardian described the show upon its 20th anniversary, "The show is now regarded as something of a kitsch cult classic, regularly appearing in meme form on social media." A musical in the works based on the show. References External links BBC America - Footballers Wives 2002 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series British sports television series English-language television shows ITV television dramas 2000s British LGBT-related drama television series Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in England