A group of lads who put a banner underneath a Wythenshawe road sign as a tribute to Marcus Rashford have spoken about why they chose to honour him.
The Manchester United player from Northern Moor, campaigned for the Prime Minister to fund the free school meal voucher scheme during the summer holidays.
Rashford, 22, received free schools as a young boy living with his mother, in Wythenshawe.
In a shock u-turn on Tuesday (June 16), Boris Johnson confirmed the government would pour £120m into a one-off 'COVID summer food fund.'
Following the announcement, a banner was erected underneath the 'welcome to Wythenshawe' road sign, just off the M56.
The banner read: "Rashford 1, Boris 0," and has been shared hundreds of times on social media.
Local community group, Wythenshawe Whisperer's, say they created the banner as a tribute to Marcus Rashford.
The group is made of up of four of local men, who grew up and went to school in Wythenshawe.
Speaking to the M.E.N, they said the banner isn't about politics - but celebrating what someone from Wythenshawe has acheived.
"We have all been following what Rashford has been doing since the start of lockdown," they said.
"When his letter got rejected we were all speaking about it in our Whatsapp group.
"When Boris Johnson made the u-turn we made a joke saying Marcus one, Boris nil. We joked about putting a banner up.
"We finished work yesterday and put the banner up around 6pm. A few people started taking pictures and then it spread like wildfire."
The group say the aim for them was to draw attention to something positive that had come from the south Manchester estate.
"There is a lad from Northern Moor who has not only become a great footballer, but has been able to make a change at the very top," they said.
"He has made the Prime Minister of this country change his mind about something which is going to help kids across the country.
"It is a reminder that people can tell their kids in Wythenshawe that might think they can't get to a position to make changes but this is a lad who has managed to do that."
The group say they like to hope Rashford has seen the banner, and that he likes it.
On Wednesday morning, the banner was removed from the sign, and the lads say they are keen to get it back.
"The Football Museum have asked for it for a project thy are doing about football during the pandemic, so it would be good if we can find it.
"The emphasis is not on the politics, it was a bit of a laugh but we wanted to celebrate what someone from our area has achieved."
