‘Easy target’ – West Brom star hails work of Man United attacker
West Brom defender Conor Townsend said that footballers are seen as an easy target for criticism, despite the work that they do for their communities.
Marcus Rashford has made the national news this year thanks to a campaign he put together that looks to provide school children with free meals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the work of the Manchester United forward, Townsend said that footballers are too often seen as an easy target for criticism, despite the fact that plenty of them do work within the community.
“We are an easy target as young kids earning money, potentially a bit of jealously,” Townsend told talkSPORT (09:09 Thursday 29 October).
“But the majority of footballers give back to their communities and give more than they take.”
An important cause
The Rashford campaign has garnered immense support among businesses and people throughout the country and has even placed pressure on the government to act.
But this pandemic has also exposed how some people view footballers, with the health secretary Matt Hancock even calling for them to take a pay cut back in April.
That statement received plenty of backlash, and Premier League players responded with their own relief fund soon after.
In Townsend’s case, he makes an important point about accountability and how footballers’ profile often leads to unfair criticism.
While they are by no means the only people in society that earn substantial amounts of money, the focus is often placed solely on them, despite a number of players donating money and supporting community projects privately.
Hopefully, Rashford’s campaign and the words of Townsend can help create a more nuanced debate around the topic, and even encourage more players to get involved and support communities that are struggling.
In other West Brom news, ‘£40m plus release clause’ – These West Brom fans react to latest John Percy update