MY BOND WITH UNITED IS SO SPECIAL. I OWE IT ALL TO THEM
Rashford reveals how Reds transformed his life
FOR Marcus Rashford, the bond he shares with Manchester United extends far beyond the football pitch.
Rashford is still only 23, but has transcended football this y e a r w i t h h i s f o r mi d a b l e campaigning to address child p o v e r t y a n d h e l p f a mi l i e s struggling in the UK.
There is an authenticity about Rashford that comes from his own childhood, having grown up in a challenging environment.
He benefited from free school meals and has gone on to fight so hard to ensure all vulnerable children enjoy the same help.
And Rashford says he will always be indebted to United, not just for giving him the chance to realise his boyhood dream of b e c o m i n g a p r o f e s s i o n a l footballer, but for going above and beyond to make it happen.
“All the good things that have happened this year have come from Manchester United giving me an opportunity as a kid,” he said. “I don’t just remember the last year or the last five years.
“I ’m t a l k i n g a b out when nobody in my family drove and I had to get to training, so United had people come and take me to the training ground – when I was six, seven, eight, nine
– and then take me back home.
“The t i mes t h e y p u t m e i n t o a c c o m m o d a t i o n when my mum was struggling at home, when I was 11, and I was there up until 16 or 17.
“It’s a lot deeper than what people see sometimes. I think people see some of the stuf f that’s been happening since I ’ve been in the first- team, but the bond I have with United is much greater than these last five years.
“It will forever be greater than pro bably my a ctu al c are e r, b e c a u s e they ’re the r e a s o n I have become a footballer, they’ve given me the opportunity to e xpress myself and to find out I had talent in football.”
Rashford, who will be hoping to get United back on track with a win in tomorrow’s Man c h e s t e r d e r b y after their midweek Champions League e x i t , a l s o s p o k e movingly of the huge inf luence his mother Melanie had on him.
T h e E n g l a n d for ward opened up after being honoured a t t h e S p o r t s J o u r n a l i s t s’ A s s o c i a t i o n Br i t i s h S p o r t s Awards, where he was named as one of the winners of the Sport for Social Change award.
Rashford has spoken of how, when he was a child, he’d hear his mother cry herself to sleep at night, as she struggled to make
e n d s m e e t , o f t e n working 14- hour shifts to provide family.
“She lived the struggle,” said Rashford ( with his mum, above left). “That’s why it means the world to me that she’s happy now and she’s right next to me with everything that I do.
“She believes, just as strongly as I do, that things need to change. Whenever there’s been setbacks, she was the first person to ring me to say, ‘ Don’t worry, just keep going’.
“It helps me not to lose sight of why i t was I start ed i t ( the campaign), and I won’t stop until I reach the end goal. It has been a difficult period for everyone with the lockdown and the virus.
“At the beginning of the year, I was injured as well and really down. It gave me the determination and drive I was missing. So I put everything I had into that.”
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