Seen in: Creed
Goodison Park marks just the second international Rocky filming location (the first was Canada’s Agrodome Arena, site of the Balboa v. Drago match in Rocky IV). Goodison Park was seen in Creed as the stadium played host to Adonis Creed’s climactic boxing match against Liverpool’s own “Pretty” Ricky Conlan (played by real-life Liverpudlian boxing champ Tony Bellew.)
Interestingly, the Conlan v. Creed match is the first in the Rocky series that was filmed against a green screen, all previous matches seen in the series were fought and filmed in real-life arenas or locations.
It was Tony Bellew, himself an Everton fan, who helped arrange for the Creed filming to take place at Goodison Park, home of the English football team Everton F.C., nicknamed the Blues.
On the night of January 19, 2015, the packed stadium was filled with fans watching the Everton v. West Brom football match and guests were told to remain in their seats during halftime to await a message from a special guest.
The massive video screens at the park flashed a brief teaser: “Filming for the new Rocky movie is taking place at half time. To be included, please stay in your seats.”
The special guest turned out to be Sylvester Stallone (also a Blues fan) appearing via video message, wearing a Blues jersey and Rocky Balboa’s signature fedora. (Click here to read more about that.)
“We want this to be a glorious moment,” Sly said as he encouraged the crowd to participate by recording their liveliest chants and cheers for the Conlan v. Creed match. “We’d like to see your faces on the screen, so please help us out, we’d appreciate it. And most of all – Go Everton!”
Months later, the nighttime footage of the crowd were placed into the movie using CGI, and the actors filmed the fight in a boxing ring on a sound stage in front of a green screen.
