CITY'S A STAR IN FOOTBALL MOVIE

30 October 2007

Viewers in Nottingham watching next year's footballing blockbuster Goal 3 might find many scenes curiously familiar.

The movie shows action from last year's football World Cup in Germany - but many of the scenes were filmed in our city.
The Bluu bar in Hockley, the Irish Centre in Wilford Street, Nottingham canal and Forest's training ground are among the locations.The crew have set up a base in Notts County's car park for five weeks of filming, which started last week.

Writer Mike Jeffries said he was delighted by their progress. He said: "It is all going fabulously so far. It is a lot more enjoyable than Goal or Goal 2.
"There is no doubt it is going to be the biggest of all the Goal films.

"Nottingham was really convenient and we managed to do a great deal with the university to get a place on campus. People in the surrounding areas have been fantastic."

The film follows three footballers - Kuno Becker, JJ Field and Leo Gregory - chasing their dreams at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.
Hundreds of hours of action were filmed during last year's tournament, featuring stars including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Sol Campbell, Steven Gerrard and Sven Goran Eriksson.

The current filming in Nottingham is of acting scenes to be intercut with the football footage.
Some of the film's "green screen" scenes are being filmed at the former Central TV studios at the University of Nottingham's Kings Meadow Campus.

The studios in Lenton recently hosted the movie Control, while hit TV shows The Price is Right, Family Fortunes and Bullseye were also produced there.
Around 70 people from Notts have also been involved in the filming, appearing as extras and walk-ons in scenes at city pubs and clubs.

Mr Jefferies said: "Quite a bit of filming was done round the corner from the Irish Centre in Wilford Street. The reason we chose that was because there are Irish bars all over the world.
"We dressed the fans differently according to what games the fans were supposed to be watching at the time. People in Nottingham will be able to see lots of spots in the city which are supposed to be somewhere else."

Goal 3 is expected to be released in autumn 2008.
Goal, the first in the trilogy, followed an American player who was transferred to Newcastle United and Goal 2 followed him after his move to Real Madrid.
Goal 3 sees ex-Brookside actress Anna Friel return to her previous Goal and Goal 2 role as Roz Harmison.