Since the loss of England’s match between them and Italy at the Euro 2020 final’s, Rashford, Sancho and Saka have been dealing with racial abuse online for missing the penalty shots during the final shootouts.
However, the people of Manchester got together this week, to bring some positivity to the teammates. What first started with a few post-it notes on Marcus Rashford’s mural, has now been showered with so much love and support towards Rashford and his teammates. By the end of the day, there was barely a spot remaining on the mural that wasn’t covered with a post-it note.
The brick wall located in the suburbs of south Manchester left Rashford “on the verge of tears” and he “couldn’t have failed to be moved as the outpouring of emotion continued.”
Rashford took to Twitter to share his feelings, by simply tweeting: “Overwhelmed. Thankful. Lost for words.”
Akse, the artist who painted the mural, had originally returned to re-spray the areas that were covered after it was defaced with abusive graffiti. When he returned and saw the community showing their support, he told Manchester EveningNews “[It] has been quite overwhelming and incredible. You can feel the community spirit.”
“But it just shows how strong the community is, how supportive and how we all come together,” Akse said. “And that’s the main message really.”
Teachers from local schools brought their students down to see the mural full of positive messages, and parents knelt down while explaining what had happened.
The day overall turned into such a positive event. The Manchester community came together, showing their support, and in fact, Marcus Rashford’s aunt represented her family at the event, took the microphone, and declared ‘we need to stand up to racism.’
