A new mural of Marcus Rashford has appeared in Manchester city centre over the weekend, highlighting the huge amount of abuse the footballer receives online.
Split into two – with one side full of unkind messages and the other spilling over with praise for the footballer, who campaigns tirelessly to improve the lives of Britain’s poorest families – it tells a stark tale of what is deemed acceptable behaviour online today.
The new artwork has been created by Reuben Dangoor, a British artist whose work is heavily influenced by current affairs and his own surroundings, in collaboration with Beats by Dre headphones.
The company, Dangoor said: “wanted to do something to show support for Marcus, who is subject to a huge amount of abuse on social media. At the same time highlighting the positive work he has been doing off the pitch and the impact that it’s had.”
The new mural can be found in Manchester’s Northern Quarter / Shudehill area. / Image: The Manc Group
A message reading ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’ stretches across the bottom of the artwork, with Marcus depicted in the centre with his eyes shut and his ears plugged with wireless headphones.
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Behind him swarm hundreds of yellow, orange and red emoji-style reactions, a mixture of smiling and angry faces, thumbs up and hearts, alongside positive and negative messages stylised as Twitter replies.
It isn’t clear if these are real replies the footballer has received, or if they are merely inspired by them.
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Negative messages like “You don’t deserve to wear the shirt”, “you play like a child” and “stick to football” dominate one side of the mural (and serve as a stark reminder of the unsolicited abuse Rashford and many other public figures face online every day).
On the other side of the mural, there are overwhelming messages of positivity. One says simply “Replying to @MarcusRashford Let’s go Rashy”, whilst another says: “Replying to @MarcusRashford Proud to have you represent the shirt.”
Another, acknowledging the footballer’s book club and the work he’s done to encourage young people to read, says: “Replying to @MarcusRashford Thank you. Cos of you my son has started reading.”
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Marcus Rashfod has previously reported the racist abuse he has received on social media to the police.
He regularly receives tides of racist and abusive messaging online, and this seems to get even worse when Manchester United loses a match, reporting at least 70 different abusive messages after his team’s 2021 Europa League loss – including one from a teacher.
Sharing his concept sketches on Instagram today alongside the finished piece, mural artist Reuben gave followers a peek behind the scenes at what his process was when designing the new Marcus Rashford mural for Manchester.
Reuben Dangoor has previously painted portraits of Stormzy, Skepta and Dizzee Rascal, and debuted these at the Tate Britain Museum for his debut exhibition ‘Legends of the Scene’.
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It’s also not his first rendezvous drawing footballers, having had his line drawings of the England football squad picked up in both TV and print in 2018. His viral drawing of Gareth Southgate was later acquired by the Southgate family.
He has had his work featured in Design Museum’s Sneaker Exhibition, was the first artist to collaborate on the new Adidas Predators, is collaborating with Arlo Parks on her world tour campaign and merchandise, and has worked alongside David Beckham to design an exclusive in-game “David Beckham” kit for FIFA 22, released last month.
Find the mural over on the border of Shudehill and the Northern Quarter by the old fish market.
Feature image – The Manc Group
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Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”