Liverpool actor Kevin Knapman plays a young footballer who's playing for Newcastle reserves after signing from Tranmere Rovers. Before the premiere, Kevin, who's screen credits include the 1996 ITV drama Hillsborough alongside Dr Who star Christopher Eccleston, was incredibly nervous because he hadn't seen the film before - "I'm living on cigarettes and adrenaline...but the champagne is helping as well".
Flanked by family and friends who'd he'd brought along to see the premiere in his home city, Kevin describes his character, Jamie Drew, as a young lad who's "chasing after a dream. He's had an inauspicious background and hopes that if he can make it as a professional footballer he can escape his past". His character, Drew, is a typical scouse lad, who takes the film's lead, Santiago Munez - played by Kuno Becker - under his wing. He helps him to settle into St James' Park when he first arrives from sun-drenched Los Angeles to the training ground in Newcastle which seems to be under a metre of water thanks to the North East's signature torrential rain.
 | | A scene from Goal! |
Knapman is lucky to get some of the best one liners in the film. A really belly laugh came from the audience when he suggests a night on the town for the two players and Munez asks him if he'll need any ID. "How old do you have to be to be able to buy alcohol over here?" he asks. "Over here - about eleven" responds Knapman. Kevin is well aware that he's acting out the "ultimate male fantasy" on the big screen of getting to be a professional footballer. "Every kid, whether they're from South America, Africa or Europe wants to be a professional footballer". His own dream is to play for Everton - "Well they could use me at the moment" - but he adds the training regime of premiership footballers who feature in the film only boosted his repect for them. "I had three weeks training and seeing the real players do it was quite daunting. I went from very awful to just awful so I did improve but seeing these guys doing it for real make me see just how good you have to be to make it as a footballer". The actors had to interprese with premiership players to make the football action look as real as possible. As Newcastle players they got to share the pitch with Alan Shearer - "a very witty guy with some great one liners" - and Kieron Dyer but also visiting sides including Rafa's Red Men. Kevin got to meet the reds skipper Steven Gerrard and says even though he's an Evertonian he really admires him. "He's a role model and a fantastic player, who's also from Liverpool and I have a massive amount of respect for him." Even though Kuno Becker grabs your attention every time he's on screen, the chemistry between him and Kevin throughout the film is touching - as a girl you always read about this kind of male bonding but few films get it across in such a real and powerful way. He comes across as a likeable character and shows that he can not only do the usual comedy scouser role but also heartfelt. And you never know, maybe David Moyes might be giving him a call if Everton's season doesn't pick up. | 
