Murals And Memories

Edward Wellard, England

As England prepares for UEFA EURO 2024, we have teamed up with The FA to tell the stories of the nation's diverse fan base. From Lancashire to London, and Southampton to Sheffield, fans share their footballing story and what supporting England both home and away means to them.

Ed Wellard runs a community-led street art project called Withington Walls in Greater Manchester and loves to cheer on England with his son, Dougie.

My name is Ed Wellard and I am 46 years old. I grew up on the Kent coast in a village called St Margarets Bay, with a lighthouse and the famous White Cliffs at the end of my road. It is a lovely place.

I moved to Manchester in 2010 to work on expanding the tram network when my first child was on the way. I thought it would be a temporary move but we ended up loving it up here. We live in a wonderful and diverse community with an amazing city on our doorstep and loads of opportunities.

Football has been a constant in my life and I have always loved it. From seeing a kid kicking a ball in a park to professionals playing at the highest level, it puts a smile on my face.

I love watching games here and abroad and sampling different football cultures. I have been to games all over the country, plus Europe and South America. I weaved in going to Calais v Auxerre during my stag do and Hertha Berlin v Red Bull Leipzig for my 40th birthday. I am off to Milan with some mates in October to see a few games, which we have done for the last few years. I also try to watch a local side with my teenage son, Dougie, when we go on family holidays.

Football, like music, has a tremendous power to forge connections and create relationships by creating common ground. It has been the starting point of many of my closest and longest-standing friendships.

Withington Walls

In my spare time, I run a community street art project called Withington Walls. Check us out on social media @withingtonwalls - Vibrant public art as a catalyst for change.

In late 2019, a group of local people got together and crowdfunded £5K to rejuvenate the area with public art. In the summer of 2020, we started painting murals on walls, shop shutters, and other structures around town and it has gone on from there. Four years later, we filled the area with colour and creativity and provided a platform for expression for around 50 artists through over 100 public artworks.

Alongside championing local artists, we celebrate positive role models with local connections, highlight important issues, support campaigns, and promote inclusivity through our artwork. We also hold events that bring the community together.

Street art has the power to connect with, and inspire, hard-to-reach audiences that might not otherwise be engaged with mainstream arts or culture. I like that we have put Withington on the map. I hope it has helped make people proud to live here and inspired creativity or community spirit in others.

From a personal perspective, it has been hard work but worth it. I have met so many great people and I love that there is incredible artwork where I live that is accessible to everyone. Withington is a brighter and better place now. It is nice to hear how the artwork helped people through lockdown or their treatment at The Christie Cancer Hospital.

My son started playing for the U9s at Kingsway AFC in 2019 and I have since started to help out with coaching, fundraising, and raising the profile of the club. The clubhouse was in disrepair, heavily vandalised after years of being unused and unloved. Artwork from Withington Walls was an immediate means of addressing how unsightly it had become and making the club's mark on the building. The clubhouse and its Hope Beats Hate mural from OskarwithaK, painted after Euro 2021, subsequently featured in the artwork for Noel Gallagher’s latest album.

Art For Good

The mural by artist AkseP19 of Marcus Rashford, who lived in Withington when he was young, that we painted in 2020 to celebrate his campaign against child food poverty, has become our most famous mural. It got a lot of interest in 2020 and even more in 2021 after being vandalised after the Euros Final.

I recently took a group of six to eight-year-olds from a local primary school on a tour of Withington Walls’ artwork. It was interesting working out how to explain to them, in simple language that they would understand, why we had done the mural in the first place and what the "Take pride in knowing that your struggle will play the biggest role in your purpose" quote from Rashford’s mum meant. I explained how the people of Withington had become famous around the world after the last Euros for their messages of love and support, and how it is important to look after one another and stand up to bullies.

We are planning a “Paint Jam”; a two-day paint festival of street art, walks, talks, workshops, music, craft beer and street food over the weekend of the Euros Final. Over 20 artists will work on a huge collaborative mural that will transform a derelict area behind Withington Baths into a space that can be used for classes and community events. I hope we are all racing off to watch England in the final somewhere afterwards.

Beyond that, I want to keep Withington Walls going. There are some great artists I would like to work with and great spots that I would like to paint. There are more causes and campaigns I would like us to support.

Through The Years

At eight years old, the Mexico World Cup in 1986 was huge for me. I did the Panini sticker book and remember the portraits of all the England team clearly. That tournament planted the seed for a love of South American football - in particular Maradona, despite the handball. I remember the ticker tape, the Mexican waves, and the Azteca stadium shadow. I remember Lineker’s exploits but, in truth, I cannot remember actually watching the games.

Italia 90 was incredible and I was a lot more aware of that tournament at 12-years-old. I remember the games and tournament panning out. I distinctly remember all the excitement of watching England v Cameroon at my dad’s pub, The Hare and Hounds, and the despair of losing to West Germany.

As a kid, I would spend time at my dad’s on the weekends. It was a classic village pub with an open fire, real ales, and great food. It was not a sports pub and my dad had no interest in shelling out for a satellite TV, but he would always find a way to get a TV on the bar for the FA Cup or when England was playing in tournaments.

Euro 96 was a huge tournament for me at 18, and going to pubs or house parties in Dover brings back so many happy memories. Gazza lunging at the ball in the six-yard box and just missing a “golden goal” in the final moments of the Germany game is etched in my memory. So close yet so far.

France 98 while at Uni was a big deal too. It was not easy balancing watching the matches with revision and end-of-year exams but I got home for the later games and remember the fury in the local pub at Sol Campbell’s goal not standing.

More recently, since I moved to Manchester and became a dad, Russia 2018 was a big World Cup for my son Dougie, who was eight years old. We watched lively games in my local The Vic with the dads I play five-aside with and their kids. It was packed out, with condensation running down the windows. It was a really special experience for him.

My Boy Dougie

So many memories of time with my dad, or feeling connected to him, are associated with football. On some level, I suppose, I am looking to replicate that with my own son. I honestly love watching footy with my boy Dougie. I love sitting or standing beside him. I love the chat. I love his passion, enthusiasm and knowledge.

I adore those days out to a football match with him, just hanging out, talking football, sharing the highs and lows. I know he is entering those teenage years where he will think I am an idiot and will no longer want to hang out with me - football will always be that safe space for us to connect.

England At The Euros

I have the group stage dates in the diary and am working out which routes we might have through the knockouts. I love the intrigue of it all, and sorting out where and who I will watch the games with. Whether it is having people round or going to a mate’s house or my local pub The Vic early enough to get a seat, it is a great way to get together with friends and family.

For the U14s team I help coach, I am trying to sort out an end-of-season team outing to Almost Famous for mad burgers and the last group game on TV. They stock the Withington Walls Ultra Pale Ale collaboration we did with Burton Road Brewing, and it is great seeing the cans with our artwork in the fridges there, plus we get a small donation for each sale.

The England Greats

I love Harry Kane. He is an incredible player, with a great range of passing. He is intelligent, hard-working, and a deadly finisher.

I look forward to seeing what Bellingham does in an England shirt at the tournament. I love how calm and self-assured he is. He seems like the nicest of young men too.

From The Pub To The Pitch

When I was a kid, I loved playing football for my school and club sides and then Sunday League. My glass ankles mean that I have stopped playing Sunday League and five-a-side. I miss it so much.

Being a football fan and a big Spurs fan has been a massive part of my life. My dad took me and my two brothers to most home games during the late 80s and early 90s. We would race up after playing football in the morning and race back for him to work at the pub.

God only knows how many games I have been to, home and away, since then. It has been the bedrock of family relationships and there are loads of friends that I am close to because of Spurs.

Helping out at Kingsway AFC allows me to give back to the game I love. It is nice to think that I might help shape the lads as both players and young men. Plus, in truth, I am not wired to just stand and watch. I want to get involved and do what I can to help and it is important that kids have access to a safe and nurturing environment to play football.

Shared Allegiance

Club interests or rivalries being put aside and the shared allegiance of being an England fan opens up so many opportunities to connect with people over the games.

There is something beautiful about the shared experience of watching an England match together. We feel the highs and lows as one. There is something positive about coming together as a nation to support a diverse group of players representing us all on the world stage.

England games bring different people together, with non-traditional fans getting involved in the collective passion and excitement. I like that.

One of the special things about the 2020 Euros was how that group of players reflected a modern England. They were such a likeable bunch of lads who stood up for what they believed in, whether it was taking the knee or wearing rainbow laces. I loved that they were using their platform for good. That group was an amazing set of positive role models and a wonderful representation of our diverse country.

In the lead-up to the tournament, I found the negative behaviour of fans and our government towards the players taking the knee very challenging. The final at Wembley and the aftermath was awful. However, there were positives to how people reacted, rising up against the abuse and racism levelled at Sancho, Saka, and Rashford. It was amazing how quickly the collective mood shifted from feeling depressed and putting up those bin bags to cover up abuse on the Rashford mural to feeling full of hope with the tidal wave of messages that followed. I love that the hate was drowned out with love.

I would really like the England team to win something. We have come so close on so many occasions and have had better teams than other countries that have won Euros or World Cups in the 30 years that I have been supporting them.

Harry Kane deserves to lift a trophy too.

Hope springs eternal…

Edward Wellard, England

Family, Friends, Football

One Of One