‘I’m from that environment… I tip my hat to him’: Troy Deeney hails Manchester United star Marcus Rashford for campaign work to provide children with free school meals… and reflects on his time using the same scheme himself
- Marcus Rashford continues to campaign to ensure vulnerable children are fed
- The Manchester United forward has been praised for his work by Troy Deeney
- Speaking on talkSPORT, Deeney reflected on how free school meals helped him
- The Government recently voted against a Labour motion to extend the support
Troy Deeney has hailed Marcus Rashford’s campaigning work over free school meals and reflected back on his own reliance on the same scheme.
The 32-year-old Watford captain has previously thrown his weight behind Rashford’s efforts to ensure vulnerable children in the UK do not go without during the holiday period and doubled down on his support on Monday morning.
Rashford has stepped up his efforts in recent days after the Government controversially voted against a Labour motion to extend the school dinners initiative.
Troy Deeney hailed Marcus Rashford’s campaigning work to ensure vulnerable children are fed
Manchester United forward Rashford spearheads efforts to extend the school meals scheme
And speaking on talkSPORT’s Breakfast show, Deeney has revealed how receiving the extra support during his time in education provided invaluable help to his family.
‘I’m from that environment,’ he said. ‘Free school meals was a massive part of what got me, my brothers and my sisters through school up until the age where you start looking after yourself.
‘For me that was about 13 or 14 but I certainly had to rely on help. And you do, we all need help in some capacity.
Deeney has reflected on how the same scheme helped his family during his time in education
Rashford works closely with FareShare, a UK charity network aimed at relieving food poverty
‘I think, more importantly, when you look at the new generation of footballers now that’s coming through… I highlight (Raheem) Sterling and Rashford but there’s so many more now.
‘So many people used to tarnish footballers, and still do to an extent, with “they’re selfish, they’re stupid, they’re overpaid.”
‘It’s finally nice to see people go, “actually, look at the human being behind that footballer.” We’re all human and we’ve all got emotions. We all make mistakes.’
The Government’s decision to vote against extending free school meals was met by staunch defiance from Rashford, who vowed to continue to advocate for change.
The Government may be forced into another U-turn with pressure building to extend support
The 22-year-old has received the support from celebrities and politicians, and has been retweeting messages from businesses pledging their own resources over the weekend.
Manchester City forward Sterling, meanwhile, is planning to create a foundation also aimed at helping disadvantaged young people. The fund may even top £10million.
Rashford’s campaign may force the Government into a second U-turn on the decision.
His pressure saw the scheme extended throughout the summer holidays despite an original insistence that the initiative would not continue outside term time.
Deeney has also praised Rashford for performing on the field despite his selfless work off it
Deeney believes that the position of the authorities will change again in the near future, and also lavished praise on Rashford’s recent on-field performances after another impressive week.
He added: ‘You look at the way this is all going now, I think that Marcus has pushed the envelope to the point where the Government are going to have to do something.
‘And that is the most powerful thing I think you can see nowadays. Your social media following, your presence and your actions can actually now dictate to what the Government has to do.
‘I tip my hat to him. He’s 22. And most importantly, because I remember when it was like (David) Beckham, people used to say his eyes were off the ball. He’s still delivering.’