590: Marcus Rashford, England, FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, Panini Official Licensed Sticker Album

When Gareth Southgate orchestrated England’s run to the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia he achieved much more than matching the nation’s best performance in a major tournament since the halcyon days of Euro 96. As well as ensuring record sales of M&S waistcoats and winning a penalty shootout Southgate’s crowning achievement in this tournament has to be that he actually made the England team likeable for the first time in years. They may have lacked the big characters of Italia 90 or the individual talents of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ but they actually appeared to be a nice group of lads who were genuinely enjoying themselves on the biggest stage in the beautiful game. Until Domagoj Vida and his mates made it clear that football wasn’t actually coming home after all.

Nevertheless, many of Southgate’s charges have carried on the good work they started in Russia with their ongoing commitment to various worthy causes. Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose have consistently challenged racism in football and the media. Harry Kane has delved into his own pocket to sponsor local side Leyton Orient and, in doing so, created awareness of several local charities. Jordan Henderson has used his position as captain of Liverpool to persuade the Premier League to get behind the Black Lives Matter movement as well as highlighting the excellent work of the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic. Harry Maguire has ridden on an inflatable unicorn and been arrested in Mykonos. Maybe ignore the last one.

Among all of these impressive feats the work of one of Southgate’s squad has ensured that the most vulnerable in society may have a more comfortable festive period this year. As the financial difficulties brought about by years of austerity measures and the impact of a global pandemic hit several industries Marcus Rashford stepped in to provide support for families who relied on free school meals. Alongside the food waste charity FareShare he raised over £20m to support children in the Greater Manchester area during the national lockdown. This success spurred the striker on to lobby the government to extend free school meal provision into the summer holidays. Whilst his campaign was initially rebuffed his tireless efforts to convince MPs of the benefits of such support meant the government eventually saw sense. Rashford was deservedly rewarded with an MBE for his efforts in October 2020.

A lesser man may have taken the honour and sat back but Marcus Rashford saw this as a platform from which to build upon and launched a petition to extend free school meal provision into the Christmas holidays as part of a larger, essential goal of ending child poverty in the UK. Within a day the petition had gained the 100,000 signatures necessary to be considered for parliamentary debate and, when a further 200,000 people added their names within a few days, the Labour Party proposed a motion to extend free school meals. Disappointingly, the motion was defeated by 61 votes. However, Rashford’s appeal to the humanity of those MPs who remained unconvinced struck a chord with the general public and several businesses, cafes, restaurants and shops announced their intentions to provide various forms of assistance to those families who needed it for the October half term. Rashford used his social media platforms, with a combined 12m followers, to highlight all of the opportunities being made available nationwide. At the start of November the government confirmed that, following a conversation between the United striker and the Prime Minister, support would be provided by local councils to all families in need throughout the Christmas holidays.

Rashford’s empathy with the cause is understandable. As a young man coming through the ranks at Manchester United his family relied on food banks and free school meals and the striker has regularly referred to the sacrifices made by his mother during his youth career. His meteoric rise to the Manchester United first team and international honours have perhaps masked his humble beginnings. He scored twice on his competitive debut in the Europa League in 2016 against Midtjylland having been thrust into the side amidst an injury crisis and followed this up with two goals and an assist three days later in a winning Premier League debut against Arsenal. An FA Cup winners’ medal at the end of his first season was followed with a place in the England squad for Euro 2016 and successes in the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League in the 2016/17 campaign. At the age of only 23 he has registered 11 goals in 43 England caps to go alongside over 70 goals for Manchester United in all competitions. United’s form may have fluctuated in recent years but Rashford has stood out as one of the club’s bright sparks in the post-Ferguson era.

During Manchester United’s relative decline Marcus Rashford has had to endure a barrage of abuse from supposed ‘fans’ calling for him to focus on his performances on the pitch rather than feeding hungry kids. Similarly he has been told by various MPs and political commentators that he doesn’t understand the complexity of government funding and that he should trust the treasury to provide adequate support for the most vulnerable. If Marcus Rashford listened and did just “stick to football” he would have legions of fans and admirers. The fact that he has used his platform so positively and effectively has earned him millions more and I don’t think he’ll be slowing down anytime soon.