Marcus Rashford's world: Special report on the Manchester United kid who went from academy obscurity to Euro 2016 star

Life for Marcus Rashford, the young Manchester United striker who has gate-crashed England’s squad for the European Championship, has always had football at its core.

Northern Moor, in Wythenshawe, six miles south of Old Trafford, was Rashford’s playground growing up. It is where he endlessly leathered balls against walls on the estate and on a grassy area outside his front door, until called in by his mother, Mel.

It was the same in Withington before then, where the family lived next door to a Manchester City supporter who feared his windows would be put in. He was described as happy while growing up in a loving environment, although he has had little contact with his father, Robert, whose name is not on his birth certificate.

Marcus Rashford scored on his England debut as his remarkable rise from obscurity to Euro 2016 continued

The Manchester United striker recently signed a new £25,000-a-week deal at Old Trafford to secure his future

There are squabbles as to who is to blame for that, but Mel is praised for raising a teenager who is a credit to her and those close to her. They include his grandfather, Ces, and two older brothers, Dwaine and Dane, who have helped mould him into an individual whom staff at United describe as mature and level-headed beyond his years. It is said Mel opted to move from Withington to Northern Moor when Rashford was eight because gang trouble was becoming more frequent.

And Rashford is dismayed by any links to crime, confused that details emerged of a murder conviction brought against a cousin — his father’s nephew — in 2004. Rashford does not know him.

In West Ham's final FA Cup match at Upton Park, Rashford scored an incredible goal in United's 2-1 victory 

The 18-year-old forward also proved to be the hero in the Manchester derby by scoring the game's only goal

BOY TO MAN

Dwaine is still looking after his little brother. He is now his agent and has enlisted the help of the brother of Danny Welbeck, the former United striker now at Arsenal, in representing Rashford to boost his wages from £1,500 to £25,000 a week, with goal and appearance bonuses. There will be incremental increases throughout his four-year deal.

The family are still together and, having moved a couple of times, they are now settled in Ashton upon Mersey in Sale, where they have lived for more than a year in a four-bedroom property.

Rashford still travels to Wythenshawe to hang out at J’s Rhythm, a Caribbean takeaway where the owner often gives out free chicken patties. They are his roots and he will not forget them.

Marcus Rashford's brother Dwaine is still looking after his younger sibling, now he is his agent 

RELAXED LIFESTYLE

His background and character, shaped by Mel, a religious woman who works in a bookmakers, dictated that a trip to the seaside at Morecambe with a friend the day after winning the FA Cup at Wembley two weeks ago was more appealing than eating at Manchester’s trendy San Carlo restaurant.

He dined with a local girl at a Morecambe hotel, happily posing for photographs with fans and signing autographs. He did the same with the young supporters who waited for him at the Stadium of Light last week where he scored three minutes into his England debut against Australia.

Mel Rashford is a big influence in her son's life and sent him off to Morecambe the day after the FA Cup final

FLETCHER MOSS MESSI

Rashford’s career was born the day Mel parked up at the Merseybank playing fields and led her youngest child through the grey industrial doors of Fletcher Moss Rangers.

Not long passed before five-year-old Rashford was turning heads. He was quiet when she signed him in that first weekend, paying the £2 before an open training session for local kids.

In front of his mother, it was a chance to show exactly what he could do. And early on Marcus did just that during a tournament.

Word has it he scored 12 goals in 10 minutes during one game, found himself bored and started laying on chances for his team-mates to net. Fletcher Moss won 20-0 in little over a quarter of an hour. They had to stop giving him the man-of-the-match awards. By the age of nine, Rashford was no secret in Manchester and further afield. Things were quickly becoming serious.

At Fletcher Moss Rangers Rashford once scored 12 goals in 10 minutes as he caught United's eye

UNITED CALLING

Fletcher Moss is always full of Premier League scouts. They turn up each weekend to survey the scene just off the River Mersey, where hundreds of youngsters are involved in matches in various age groups. The history and conveyor belt of talent produced — including Welbeck, Wes Brown and Jesse Lingard — mean the scouts will keep coming.

At seven, Rashford was drawing crowds of scouts all on his own. Manchester City and Liverpool were the rivals to United. He was training with City, based at Platt Lane, when United got wind and asked Dave Horrocks of Fletcher Moss to take him to United’s old training ground, The Cliff.

Fletcher Moss coach Dave Horrocks took Rashford to the Cliff where he got his first taste of United

WHY UNITED?

Rene Meulensteen, who would become Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant, was the one to persuade him — and his family — to choose the red half of the city.

The deciding factor was that United’s training programme, introduced by Meulensteen, was based on methods in which mastery of the ball is paramount. That, and the look on his face when Horrocks pulled up at The Cliff, swung it for the eight-year-old. He was part of United’s development programme.

Rene Meulensteen, a one-time Sir Alex Ferguson assistant, was the one to persuade Rashford to sign

THE ACADEMY

Until the last year there had been lingering doubts about Rashford’s physique. He would always score goals in the academy, which he joined at nine and for whom he often played in a group a year above his actual age, but some wondered whether he was strong enough to cope.

His preferred position has always been through the middle as a main striker, but he has been deployed wide to allow his body to grow. Ironically, Rashford has only really enjoyed the freedom to be a striker since being thrust into the first team by United manager Louis van Gaal in February. 

His elegant running style, his tricks and his speed emphasised why he should operate wide, although in his first foray out there — during an Under 18s match at Newcastle — he appeared exhausted. He looked over to manager Paul McGuinness as if to say ‘Take me off’. They didn’t.

It was a way of strengthening his underdeveloped body. There was no doubt Rashford would become an academy scholar at 16, earning around £120 a week, rising to £175 in the second year. He is typical of their academy, insisting on wearing black boots even after signing a deal with Nike last summer. It is Ferguson’s legacy in action.

In his academy days there were lingering doubts about Rashford’s physique but he was pushed to develop

ENGLAND STORY

The name Marcus Rashford is nothing new to the national team. Spotted at 14, United kept England updated on his development, although some at the FA were unsure as to his growth. United were careful, managed him well and refused to over-play the teenager. They didn’t always release him to England schoolboys — providing short-term consternation — but were ultimately vindicated as his dramatic rise continues.

Long before the 18-year-old was named in Roy Hodgson's England squad he was on the national team radar

Rashford was not always released for England schoolboy duty as United kept a close eye on his development

ASHTON EDUCATION

At 12, Rashford was enrolled among other United academy stars at Ashton-on-Mersey School, now not far from his home. He has been studying for a BTEC in sports science, and was a hit at the school.

The common room was Rashford’s spot of choice the morning after he put Arsenal to the sword in scoring his first two Premier League goals on his debut in February. He played pool and chatted to friends.

Those inside the school were not surprised because, they say, nothing fazes him. Rashford arrived early that Monday. He graciously received the boisterous congratulations, and headed for class at 9am. The two days of education a week have been a doddle for Rashford, completed without fuss. He will find out his results at the end of next month.

At 12, Rashford was enrolled among other United academy stars at Ashton-on-Mersey School, near his home

UPPING THE GEARS

Rashford was helped by an injury to Demetri Mitchell — nine months his senior — at the beginning of the season and never looked back. His primary target this season at United was to make an impression in Warren Joyce’s Under 21s, to prove his worth at that level.

He was not handed a run in the Under 21s until September, a Lancashire Senior Cup victory over Rochdale, replacing hat-trick hero Ashley Fletcher with 22 minutes left.

Fletcher would later spend time firing Barnsley to the Championship on loan, while Rashford set records in the Premier League, Europa League and now internationally.

Rashford was helped by an injury to Demetri Mitchell as he made an impression in Warren Joyce’s U21s

September was the 18-year-old’s month. He began making his mark, netting eight goals in six games — including in the UEFA Youth League for Nicky Butt’s Under 19 side. Butt would give Rashford the captaincy.

‘I just think Marcus deserved to be captain because he has done all the right things on the training pitch and is becoming a leader,’ Butt said. Not an imposing figure, but one who leads by example.

Those in junior groups will be sick of hearing his name in the coming months and years.

For the UEFA Youth League Nicky Butt would give Rashford the captaincy of his Under 19 side

ONE OF THE GANG

He is shy, yes. Quiet. No trouble, and definitely no jack-the-lad. Chris Smalling, Daley Blind and Lingard are three players he is closest to and eats his lunch with. Rashford is friendly with his contemporary Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. He doesn’t have a club car at the moment, but was seen driving an Audi a few months ago.

Most of all, however, he benefits from the United culture of welcoming rookies, and plenty are only too happy in lending a hand.

The pats on his back came inside United’s £400,000 coach, the Van Hool TDX27 Astromega, back in April as they left White Hart Lane. United capitulated in the second half at Tottenham, falling to a 3-0 defeat, but Rashford’s team-mates — chiefly Michael Carrick — were more bothered about the impact of him being substituted at half-time by Van Gaal, patting him on the back one by one, telling the striker not to worry.

Another Fletcher Moss, Jesse Lingard, is one of Rashford's best friends having broken through together

THE NEW STAR

The reason for his substitution was that Van Gaal was unimpressed that Rashford was searching for possession, working the flanks — perhaps subconsciously harking back to his academy days — and hauled him off.

It proved the wrong decision because United lacked a focal point thereafter. Rashford took the dressing-room criticism in front of the others without knowing what he’d done wrong. He nodded, took the hit and moved on.

What came next is indicative of how far United’s Next Big Thing can go in this unforgiving game. Van Gaal met Rashford next morning in the Carrington canteen to discuss further what he demanded. The prodigy sat still, listened intently.

Rashford's first team rise did not come without a bump in the road but the youngster is still a willing learner

Then, though, came the crux: he started asking questions.

He asked why Van Gaal felt it would be best to drop there, play on the shoulder then, come short, go long? Rashford might have grown up since banging those Wythenshawe walls, but his thirst for learning the game will not stop here.

Now he’s hoping to make his mark at Euro 2016. What an incredible journey so far.

The striker is in dreamland as heads to Euro 2016. Who is to say the remarkable teen cannot star in France?