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3 weeks ago
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Although Marcus Rashford had moved closer to the exit at Manchester United, there was still a buzz around Button Lane primary school.
“The noise of the children coming in was louder,” sports coach Chris Walker said. “Some don’t want to come into school, but this morning it was: ‘What did you get from Marcus?’”
For months, fans have questioned whether Rashford still feels comfortable in a Manchester United shirt.
But it still surprised supporters when he revealed he was “ready for a new challenge” when questioned about his future after being left out of the Manchester derby.
Rashford spent the hours before the revelation in a place where no one doubted he was at ease – the school he attended when he first signed for Manchester United at the age of seven.
Plush electronic Furby toys, colouring sets with every shade – “not just a pen and pencil” – were among Christmas gifts the “humble, gentle” 27-year-old handed out to 420 pupils at Button Lane, Walker said.
Rashford’s generosity towards the school in the south Manchester suburb of Northern Moor, where about 35% of households are deprived “in one dimension”, as well as his campaigning on child poverty, means whatever happens next in his football career, he remains a hero to many.
But outside Old Trafford stadium, on a pilgrimage to the ground from Cardiff, Charles Akwaeze, 34, was unsentimental.
“To me, he needs to be sold,” he said. “Charity is charity, football is football.”
Charles’s friend, Canton FC player Peter Onaghinor, 29, joked that United needed to “reduce his wages”, but added: “He’s done a lot for people, and he’s a good player. But the last few years he’s been having his ups and downs. I think he should be given more time – he gets criticised a lot. But he’s still a superstar for me, he’s my favourite player.”
A few miles away in Withington, a mural celebrates Rashford on the corner of Coffee House cafe. It was defaced after England’s Euro 2020 final defeat, before crowds of fans, many young, posted messages, flags and hearts on it in solidarity with Rashford and his black England colleagues facing abuse.
“It’s fading a bit now,” a woman walking past the mural called out in the December rain. “Maybe it’s because he’s leaving United?”
Before moving to Northern Moor, Rashford lived in Withington and went to Old Moat primary.
Passing by, Rob Thompson, a 44-year-old groundworker, said his mother-in-law remembers holding the “quiet” boy’s hand in the playground there as a dinner lady.
“I’m 50/50 with it,” Thompson, who grew up in Old Trafford, said when asked about the end of Rashford’s United era nearing.
“Obviously there’s a great player in there. But is he happy where he is? I love the fact he’s a Manchester lad, but if I was playing for Manchester United, I’d be running through walls.”
Thompson thought Rashford’s campaigning had been “fantastic”, but asked: “Has that affected his ability to play football? I don’t know. As a person, he’s a nice lad. As a Man United fan and a born and bred Manc I’d love to see him stay – but if it’s for the good of Man United for him to move on, so be it.”
Back at Button Lane, children wrote their ambitions on a “dream board” by Rashford’s picture. He’s given them books, a 4G pitch and chocolates on visits over the years, as well as inspiration.
“He helps tremendously, not just at Christmas,” Chris Walker said. “He looks out for the school, he looks out for where he’s from. He’ll always be one of us.”
