Many of you may not know I am an Everton fan, maybe my interest has waned slightly over the past 10 years as I have got into my 30's and had a much more apathetic view on the game given the inflated wages and over commercialisation of the game, but I still watch a fair few matches and when I am back in England I try to go watch a match at Goodison park still.
Pictured above Sly Stallone with Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright
One of the more fascinating elements to my club that sprang up as far back as 2007 is Sylvester Stallone's interest in Everton.
He could have been the one and only Hollywood movie star to buy a Premier League football club...had he acted on his gut feeling to buy us back in 2007 when he first visited the Merseyside club to watch the game against Reading. He was invited by his friend Robert Earl who is one of Everton's directors. But the connection between Stallone and Everton FC goes a little deeper than just a simple visit to watch the Toffees play in the Premier League on a one off occasion.
Stallone's failure to take advantage of the opportunity at the time did not dampen his support and love for Everton and it's fans where he was taken back by the atmosphere at the ground upon is visit. He would later give Everton perhaps an even greater gift coming by having the clubs name and ground featured the world over on his next big screen boxing movie!
Goodison Park & Real Life Boxing Champion & Evertonian Become the Main Feature for the Final Fight in 2015's Creed Movie!
This part of the tale is amazing, for such a low profile club globally like Everton to become the main featured of a Hollywood blockbuster's final fight - and what a blockbuster it was, no other than a Rocky movie is quiet surreal. I think it's rather poetic that one of the founding members of English football back in 1885 (where at the time teams like Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham did not even exist) was to become the centre feature of a Rocky movie.
Filming the final fight at Goodison park with the ring in the centre of the pitch brought a real edgy feel to the movie where Adonis Creed was flown into foreign territory to fight a formidable norther English opponent - a real life boxing champion who plays the best boxer in the world pound for pound with a 36 to 0 record.
Tony Bellew is a Real Boxing Champ and Life Long Everton Fan
When Creed comes up against "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (Bellew) it feels like a real life real boxing event staged in England like the many famous fights back in the 90's. Goodison park itself which is a rather old stadium has that feel in real life too, very nostalgic and old. Thanks to the way the scene is shot from behind Creed's shoulder as he enters the ring the fight in my opinion has the best build up scene from all the Rocky movies creating a perfect blend of realism and tension, simulating what it would feel like for an unproven amateur fighter to enter the ring at such a huge professional event.
Tony Bellew: 2017: Vs David Haye: Creates a Big Upset By Technically Knocking Haye Out in the 11th Round
How Did a Life Long Everton Fan and Champion Boxer Get the Role in Creed?
Stallone's agent phoned Bellew back in 2014 ironically right after he had watched Everton take a 3-6 thrashing at home to Chelsea. Bellew still remembers exactly how the conversation went stating:
"This guy says 'Hey Tony, I'm calling you on behalf of MGM, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin King Templeton. Would you play the world champion in the next Rocky movie?' My repIy was simply 'Are you having a f------- laugh? I only listened to him because I thought it would cheer me up. He phoned me back four times in the next hour. When I told my wife Rachael she looked at me like I was mad."
It turns out that then Everton midfielder Ross Barkley was the one to recommend Tony to Sly Stallone and his casting crew giving Stallone's agent his number.
The boxing champ and Everton fan spent 3 months filming the movie over in Philadelphia where he worked closely with Sly Stallone advising on the fighting scenes as well as taking the centre stage for the final fight as Adonis Creed's formidable opponent.
Sly Shoots at Goodison Park to Capture the Crowd and Stadium
One Saturday afternoon in 2015 during an Everton draw against West Brom, a match that left a lot to be desired for the Toffees (0-0 bore draw), Sly Stallone appeared on the big screen TV during half time. He asked Everton fans to make as much noise as possible to create the perfect atmosphere as they were to be used in the movie's final fight. Sly Stallone's movie crew had set up cameras to capture the entire 360 degree view of the crowd at Goodison park.
The crowd along with the Goodison park stadium can be seen throughout the final fight and during the entrance of both Adonis and Conlan.
Watch the Atmospheric Entrance of Adonis Creed and "Pretty" Ricky Conlan Shot to the Back Drop of Goodison Park
At the time when I saw Creed in cinema's as a life long Everton fan I had no idea Everton FC, Goodison Park and Tony Bellew were going to feature as a massive part in the film. I was completely taken back but very happy to see what I saw unfold before my own eyes in the cinema with Bellew (Conlan) appearing in an atmospheric and daunting scene as he made his entrance to the ring sporting an Everton Crest on his boxing hoodie.
"Pretty" Ricky Conlan Stares Down Adonis Creed Sporting the Everton FC Crest and He Makes His Ring Entry
I think the movie perfectly captures the nervy entrance of Adonis Creed a would be boxing fighter taking on an English champion with a crowd heard raucously before he even enters the pitch area on his way up to the ring.
One thing's for sure, Creed 2's end fight where it was Creed vs Viktor Dragodidn't come near capturing the intensity of this amazing scene in Liverpool and the fight that ensued between Creed and Conlan. It was an impressive choice of Sly to choose this sort of location for the fight, completely changing up the previous movies cliche'd locations and fighters for a more gritty and realistic opponent and atmosphere an old traditional English football ground for a big boxing match.
Everton FC may never again been seen through such a unique and iconic lens as in Rocky VII, but then again how many football clubs even get the chance at a one time feature in a Hollywood Blockbuster?