The Marcus Rashford mural can now be seen on Google Street View covered in letters of love and support

The Marcus Rashford mural in Withington can now be seen covered in letters of love and support on Google Maps’ Street View.

As a part of its Black History Month celebrations, Google is now allowing its users to view the mural from footage captured back in July, when locals used hundreds of hand-made momentos to cover up hateful graffiti aimed at the footballer following Englands loss to Italy in the Euros 2020 final.

According to the Evening Standard, Google’s project is in collaboration with the Manchester Art Gallery, Central Library’s Archives department, the People’s History Museum, the National Football Museum, the University of Manchester, and the Withington Walls project.

Google Maps

Marcus Rashford has praised the move, saying he is ‘happy to see Google taking the lead on this’. He said: “I’ve often felt that discrimination stems from a lack of education and a reservation to just ask questions and gain an understanding.

“We too often hush up children when their curiosity emerges in uncomfortable settings but much of the time bias can be countered by that ability to get that curiosity off your chest.

“It’s important that we open up these forums for children particularly, so that moving forward differences can be celebrated and championed, as opposed to singled out negatively and I’m happy to see Google taking the lead on this.”

The hundreds of messages, letters and drawings left on the mural were carefully removed by volunteers from the University of Manchester and various museums from across the city and preserved. 

They were then taken to the Central Library’s archives department for safekeeping, where they remain while talks on how best to preserve and display them to the public in the future get underway.

At the time, Rashford himself responded to the heartwarming gesture, saying he was ‘on the verge of tears’ over the response to his mural.

He wrote: “The messages I’ve received today have been positively overwhelming and seeing the response in Withington had me on the verge of tears. The communities that always wrapped their arms around me continue to hold me up.”