Marcus always thought of others... he’s just a genuinely nice, helpful lad
UNITED STAR’S FORMER TEACHER REACTS TO HIS FREE MEALS CAMPAIGN
MARCUS Rashford’s former teacher says he is not surprised he has gone on to take the country by storm with his charity work and campaigning.
The United star is being hailed as a national hero after forcing the government into a U-turn on their plan to end free school meal vouchers during the summer holidays.
He had previously also raised £20million to pay for meals for families living below the breadline during lockdown.
Simon Pyne taught the England forward at Button Lane Primary School on the Northern Moor estate in Wythenshawe, where Marcus moved aged nine.
United fan Simon, 43, still a teacher at the school, was delighted when his former pupil broke into the Reds’ first team four years ago. He says he also believed he would go on to do good things off the pitch.
Simon said: “He’s always wanted to give back. He has always stayed in touch with his area.
“He has a couple of really close friends, former classmates, and I think he wanted to help people like them.
“He also has a strong family behind him who would have been rooting for this as well. He talks about his mum a lot and she will have made sure he stayed grounded.
“And knowing what he was like in school, he was always going to give something back if he could. I always knew he had it in him.”
Simon revealed Marcus used to help struggling classmates with their work, as well show an extraordinary level of dedication given his age.
He said: “He’s more or less the same now as he was in school.
“He was just a genuinely nice, thoughtful, hard-working, well mannered lad.
“He always thought of others. He was always very helpful in class.
“It’s difficult to remember specific incidents as it was so long ago, but I know he spent a lot of his time sat next to one of our more difficult pupils at the time and I know he helped him quite a lot with his work. He was always very patient like that. “Obviously he absolutely loved his sport, but he worked hard in everything he was doing.
“We do a residential in the Lake District every year and the year he came with us he asked me if he could set an early alarm.
“I said ‘why do you need to do that, we wake you up’ and he said ‘I want to get up and do my training.’
“That was nine years old. And every morning he was up doing press-ups, sit-ups or whatever it was.
“I used to have to send a report to his coaches and I would tell them you couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated child.
“I think it was instilled into him from an early age – remember where you’ve come from, don’t forget it, don’t leave it behind. And he hasn’t done. In fact, I believe he has a tattoo
of the house he grew up in.”
Speaking just after Boris Johnson announced the government would provide meal vouchers for parents over the summer in a move costing £120m, Simon said: “This is another level. It makes you proud to know he has done all this. I support him in everything he does.”
Before moving to Wythenshawe, Marcus lived with his mum Mel and his four siblings in both Withington and Fallowfield.
During that time he played for the legendary Fletcher Moss Rangers, who have had an array of future stars on their books down the years, including Wes Brown, Jesse Lingard, and Ravel Morrison.
Dave Horrocks, 67, was one of Marcus’s first coaches from when he was five until he was picked up by United’s academy aged eight.
He said: “I’m not using the word proud because it doesn’t seem to
cover what we feel about him. I’ve been trying to find the right word and it’s honoured. I’m honoured to know the guy and the family. He comes from such a fantastic family.
“I was talking to some of our parents today and it came home to me, there are so many of them who will benefit and are benefiting from what he has done.
“It’s when you realise it’s our kids and our parents who are going to get looked after, it reminds you how close to home it is.”
Dave said he hopes Marcus’s time at Fletcher Moss helped shape him.
He said: “We try and make it that if the kids remember us in the future, then brilliant. If they do something as fantastic as Marcus has gone and done, then phenomenal.
“Whether Marcus still thinks of us as fondly we do of him I don’t know.
“But I’d like to think we may have played some small part somewhere.”