Happy Birthday Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United striker turns 23 today. His feats on-the-field alone have been impressive scoring 46 goals for United. But it’s his campaigns away from the pitch that have grabbed the nation’s attention.
After netting a sublime winner at the Parc des Princes last Tuesday to give Manchester United victory over Paris Saint Germain, the striker repeated his Champions League heroics eight days later with a 16-minute hattrick against RB Leipzig.
The latter performance made Rashford only United’s second and the Champions League’s fifth player to score a hattrick as a substitute. His mere 27-minute cameo was also the shortest performance ever made by a player who has scored a treble in the competition.
Rashford’s ability on the pitch has been unmistakeable, and doubtlessly welcomed by Ole Gunnar Solskjær and others in the red half of Manchester. But his impact off it has been immeasurable and provided a crucial lifeline for thousands across the country.
Sportstars are increasingly under the spotlight for breaches of coronavirus regulations, including Rashford’s own teammates. But instead the 22-year old has been a shining light throughout the past few months, using his tangible influence as a force for social change. Oh, and his name will have MBE on the end soon too.
How it started
It all began with an open letter to MPs in mid-June.
Across two pages, Rashford detailed both his own tough upbringing in a working-class Manchester community and the worrying levels of food poverty across the country, worsened dramatically by the numerous consequences of the pandemic. The England striker – one of five children himself – pleaded for the extension of free school meals for vulnerable kids through the extended summer holiday, claiming the existing system “isn’t built for families like mine to succeed.”
Rashford vocally advocated measures aimed at reducing food poverty in the UK, which he had relied on during his own childhood. Figures from the Department of Education claim that, as of January 2020, 1.4m children qualify for free school meals, which is just over 17% of the student population. The North East has the highest levels of eligibility in the country, with almost a quarter of all children able to access the scheme.
His message was heartfelt and simple, and his message was heard. In a matter of days, a £120 million “Covid summer food fund” was established, providing free school meals throughout the summer for the estimated 200,000 children that had to skip meals during lockdown.
As lockdown has continued in various forms, debate turned to extending the scheme over the Christmas holidays. For now, that will not happen, after the government rejected a bill put forward in Westminster. Despite two weeks of heavy criticism, and the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all extending their schemes to cover the Christmas holidays, it has stood by its defence of having raising universal credit and allocating £63m to local authorities.
A role model on and off the pitch
The debates around the government’s financial and moral position are ones to be had elsewhere and cloud the profound impact that Rashford has had on the health of thousands, and the lives of millions.
Regrettably, Rashford’s actions are by no means common, and have fortunately provided welcome distraction from the actions of his peers. Teammate Mason Greenwood and Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden made the front pages when they were sent home from England duty for entertaining two Icelandic models in their hotel rooms whilst on international duty. Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell, as well as Borussia Dortmund’s Jaden Sancho – all of whom are a similar age to Rashford – also landed themselves in hot water when attending a party of more than six people.
Rashford’s actions have instead offered a beacon of hope for thousands of families who would doubtlessly struggled without the extension of the free school meals scheme. Lockdown has hit every corner of society, but for a young man who has worked his way to the very top to remember his roots at a time of such strife is something to be praised. His drive to use his reach for the greater good has rocketed him to a new level of social influence. But he has remained humble, apolitical and true to his beliefs, helping him to unite wide swathes of society and become a household name, in a way that most sportspeople seldom have the opportunity to do. Publicly telling Katie Hopkins to “f**k off” on Twitter after her negative response to his open letter would also have earnt him a few more fans.
It is worth remembering, however, that the cultural impact of Rashford’s efforts should not, and cannot, be compared to those of others. Lewis Hamilton’s valiant public efforts to draw attention to the Black Lives Matter movement and particularly the death of Breonna Taylor is no less valid a cause. Indeed, the worldwide context in which Rashford has undertaken this campaign is different to any other seen before. Only with hindsight can we judge the true benefit of his actions, and only time will tell if the relentless criticism of government will lead to *another* U-turn.
But in the meantime, if anyone is looking for a role model, there are worse places to start.
By Callum Parke