Nottingham's golden goalie Mary Earps has been celebrated not by one but two murals in Nottingham. The England goalkeeper played a major part in the team's victory in the UEFA Women's Euro final against Germany last month.
The 29-year-old Lioness has also been honoured by having a bus named after her by Trentbarton which will serve her childhood home of West Bridgford. One of the murals is located near Lady Bay Bridge featuring Earps, one of Nottingham's famous Council House lions and Robin Hood.
The 10m x 5m mural was painted by a musician and artist who goes by the name of Toddjerm and designed with the help of Ben Hunter. Ben, who runs Mock Rock Climbing on the site of Boatyard Boulders by the bridge, said: "We took over the lease for the place where the wall is situated and quickly realised the space was crying out for a mural. Originally we were going to do a celebration of Nottingham mural, then with the Euros' win we switched it to this design.
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"Goalkeeper Mary Earps is from Nottingham and we saw murals of other players popping up around the country, but nothing in Nottingham. It was an easy decision to do it! But it was brutal to complete in the hot weather. We're redeveloping that site into an outdoor bouldering centre and we just wanted to lift the area and show what we can do with almost no budget and lots of determination."
The mural will remain in place for a few more weeks after which they hope to donate it to a local school or football club. New murals will be going up every six to eight weeks to promote local charities, businesses and events to help fund the bouldering centre. "This one was just for fun and to celebrate one of our own's achievements," added Ben.
A second mural has popped up at the side entrance to the Nottingham train station, next to Hopkinson’s antiques. Art of Football, a football culture collective, is behind the artwork It's Coming Home with an arrow.
Managing director Luke Cuthbert said: "We take great pride in our roots being in Nottingham. We wanted to celebrate one of Nottingham's new heroes. Mary Earps is the first person from Nottingham to win a major international football trophy for England. We have created a mural of Mary in the heart of Nottingham to pay tribute to her achievement and to honour what an inspiration she is for the future generations in Nottingham as to what they can achieve on a global scale."
Tramlink provided the space for the murals. Spokesman Andrew Conroy said: “Mary is an inspiration and the whole of Nottingham feel proud of her achievements and the role she and the Lionesses are playing in inspiring the next generation of players and fans.
"We were happy to play our part in helping this amazing mural come to life. We hope the prominent and central location will allow residents and visitors to see it every day and be reminded of the power of sport and positive role models.”
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