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4 hours ago
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On a busy junction in Quinton, a suburb of Birmingham, England football stars Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers are peering out from the side of a fish and chip shop, tucking into the local delicacy: orange chips.
The huge lifelike image was pasted on the wall on Friday afternoon by a local guerilla artist seeking to foster West Midlands pride, both for the area’s footballing stars and for its distinctive neon battered chips.
It’s since become a viral sensation on social media, and has attracted attention from a steady stream of passersby looking to celebrate their homegrown talent, from excursions of pensioners from the local old person’s home to a group of children with Down’s syndrome.
The mural has proven so popular that Classic Fryer’s owner has started opening two hours early and hired two extra staff members to meet demand from fans coming to look at it.
Local artist Dion Kitson, who has 27,700 followers on Instagram, said the mural had received the biggest response he had ever experienced, including posts from Bellingham and Rogers. “My phone’s been on fire,” he said. Other local businesses are begging him to put up a Bellingham mural on their walls.
“It’s a beautiful moment that’ll stay with me for ever, it melts your heart. Football transcends everything,” he added.
Kitson wanted his painting of the England stars to challenge “the dark side of patriotism” he had seen online and instead “try to channel the correct side of that, with football, sport, local pride, heritage culture and chips – and not to be a statement politically, it’s just about feeling good”.
He hoped that the focus on Bellingham, who grew up in nearby Stourbridge, would challenge some stigma around the Black Country and its industrial legacy.
“It’s strange that he’s from our neck of the woods, having role models that sound like us,” he said. “I’m quite protective over the Black Country. I grew up here, and I’ve been in the art world since I was 18, and I’ve had to put up with people thinking I’m an idiot and I’m not educated, and I have more degrees than them.”
He picked the Quinton junction because it is between Birmingham and Stourbridge. “I quite like the idea that as a school kid or something he would have came through here,” he said. “I like the idea that I can put Dudley or the Black Country or Birmingham on the map.”
Classic Fryer’s owner, Ramesh Natwadia, was thrilled by the mural, which he said had become “a local attraction”, and reversed his business’s fortunes at a difficult time.
“Our customers are really happy, they said it’s amazing,” he said, adding that some had asked him to take photos of them posing with orange chips in front. “They’re not used to seeing people from their local area being famous.”
Local resident Gerdas agreed: “They’re local lads. We’re just really proud of them. And it gives Birmingham and the Black Country a big boost.”
Some residents have been frustrated to see Bellingham described as from Birmingham, when Stourbridge is in the Black Country. “When somebody becomes famous, everybody wants to claim them. So it’s a credit to him, really, that people are fighting over it,” Gerdas added.
Joan Ingram had come to visit the mural after seeing it in the newspaper and on social media. “It gives a sense of pride and not everyone knows about it – there needs to be more attention for it,” she said. “There’s so much love for him at the moment around the area,” she said, adding that she has been hearing chants of “Hey Jude” around local pubs. “It’s bringing people together.”
In Stourbridge, local residents were gearing up to support their town’s most famous export for Wednesday’s match. West Midlands Railway is offering free train travel on its Stourbridge Shuttle all week.
Bobby George, assistant manager in the Cock’N’Bull pub, said it had been fully booked for matches with local fans. “It was a really good crowd – the best you could hope for. The atmosphere was amazing,” he said, adding that Bellingham was “obviously the favourite”.
The pub is offering free shots every time England scores. “Bellingham is costing us a lot of money,” he said.
Dunc Henderson, a tattoo artist at OSC, said he hadn’t done any Bellingham tattoos yet – though he might have to get one himself if England win the World Cup. He was taking part in a sweepstake where if you draw the winning team you get £50 and a tattoo representing the winning team – he has a Spanish bull on his leg from the 2024 Euros.
He was considering a realistic portrait, a replica of the Bellingham chips mural, or a slogan like “Hey Jude” or his infamous “Who else?” from when Bellingham did the overhead bicycle kick in the last World Cup.
“It’s Jude’s home town, and this World Cup he’s absolutely killing it,” said Dan Henley from Stourbridge’s AP Morgan estate agent, which has a Bellingham sign in its window.
“Stourbridge is pretty small, pretty unheard of, so having someone on the main stage, I think you should shout about it.”
