Rashford: This tribute has really touched me

On Saturday, we published Academy coach Tony Whelan’s account of watching Marcus Rashford rise through the United ranks, from his early years as a gifted eight-year-old to his modern-day exploits as a prolific goalscorer on the field and an equally active humanitarian off it. 

Tony saluted the youngster’s astonishing feat of making it onto the cover of TIME magazine, a world-famous publication he regularly read in his earlier years. On Sunday, Marcus tweeted back a tribute to Tony and everyone who had helped him on his journey so far, saying: “This really touched me. That TIME cover was not just mine it belonged to all of you. Thank you.”

 

This really touched me...
That TIME cover of was not just mine it belonged to all of you. Thank you ♥️ https://t.co/KCJYnHjr3Y

— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) March 27, 2021

When we began our UTD Unscripted series, the premise was simple: show our readers the human side of Manchester United; tell the stories behind the people behind the badge. 

Tony’s tome on Marcus may have elicited a public back-and-forth in front of an audience of millions, but those same exchanges used to take place while Whelan was driving the talented youngster home. This is the level of insight we strive for. 

We’re closing in on 100 editions of Unscripted, covering a wide variety of subject matters which have meandered through all manner of topics.

In addition to post-mortems of classic rivalries, matches, goals and moments, we’ve heard lighter-hearted tales of retrieving balls from graveyards, having Ryan Giggs help with your homework or cropping up as a pub quiz answer, while also sharing stories of childhood poverty, unfathomable tragedy and all-consuming personal battles. Through it all, our guest authors have shown bravery and candour to go into compelling detail for the world to see.

To comb through our entire back catalogue, simply visit www.manutd.com/unscripted or simply keep an eye on our site over the next few days as we’re going to be re-running some of our greatest hits so far. 

First up, in his edition of Unscripted, South Korean superstar Ji-sung Park details the birth of an unlikely friendship with Patrice Evra.