Rochdale hero: Lioness Keira Walsh honoured with mural

Posted by on 13 Jun 2024

A huge mural celebrating Rochdale-born England and Barcelona footballer Keira Walsh has just been completed in her Greater Manchester hometown.  The striking image of Keira about to kick the ball and celebrating a goal in her England kit has been painted onto the R-Kix Performance Centre on Smith Street, opposite Marks and Spencer.  It’s an appropriate location for the eye catching art as the recently opened R-Kix provides football pitches, coaching, fitness and other sporting facilities in the town centre.

The mural has been installed by Rochdale Borough Council in partnership with her agency Rept Sports and Rochdale Development Agency (RDA).

Renowned Manchester based street artist Katie Scott created the mural during the last week, with photos shared on social media soon after completion already racking up over 100,000 views and heaps of positive comments.

Katie said she had a great time painting the mural: “People have all been very welcoming, stopping for a chat as the work progressed. It’s nice the know people of all ages are enjoying it and I’m very pleased to have played a part in celebrating Keira’s story and hopefully inspiring the next generation of young girls.”

Keira Walsh, who helped guide her team to Euro 2022 glory and joined European giants Barcelona was named official player of the match in the historic Euro 2022 final. Since that move she has won La Liga, the Supercopa, the Champions League – and lifted the first women’s Finalissima trophy with England.

Raised in Rochdale and a former pupil at Healey Primary School, Keira first played football with her dad on a field opposite her house on Syke Common, later joining Pearson Juniors in her hometown before being signed by Blackburn Rovers and later Manchester City. She has won numerous honours for club and country, including multiple Champions Leagues, English and Spanish league titles, the UEFA Women’s Championship in 2022 and is widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders of her generation. She was granted the freedom of the borough of Rochdale in 2022 and was until recently the most expensive female footballer in the world.

The mural was funded by the council’s Rochdale North Township Committee, supported by Rochdale’s Cultural Development Fund. It is part of ‘Rochdale Creates’ a new cross sector initiative to drive and promote creative and cultural activity across the borough.