A HUGE mural of Ella Toone has been completed on the side of her local pub in Tyldesley.
With Ella's goals and performances helping England to lift the Women's Euros for the first time this summer, the artwork has been created as a lasting celebration in her local community.
Seeing similar portraits of sporting icons across the borough, Union Arms landlady Sharon Mattin wanted to bring a large-scale Ella to the area where she has grown up and the pub where she celebrated her Euros win.
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After getting in contact with street artist Scott Wilcock, he spent 12 hours completing the mural on Wednesday, August 17.
Working under the moniker Snow Graffiti, Scott has created murals and temporary 'snow art' all over the UK.
Despite always having a passion for art and creativity, the 34-year-old only began creating portraits during lockdown in 2020, starting with a paint of bodybuilder Dorian Yates in his local gym.
With requests for his work quickly snowballing, he quit his mechanic job of 17 years in order to follow his passion.
Scott, from Ashton-in-Makerfield, said: "It's been quite crazy because I only created my first mural in lockdown and it's just taken off ever since.
"I've always wanted to do something with art but was told I would make any money from it, but now I'm working on projects every day and I love it because it doesn't even feel like work."
In addition to Ella Toone, Scott has created murals of local sporting icons across the borough, with Keely Hodgkinson next on his list.
Catching the attention of the local community, this side of his job feels the most rewarding as young people have "thrived" off the sporting murals and want to learn more about them.
Speaking about the Union Arms mural, Scott said: "The feedback to the Ella Toone mural has been amazing and people seem to be loving it.
"You can tell how much of an icon she is around the area because so many people stopped me to speak about the art and tell me their stories about her.
"Her mum and dad even came down to see it and they were both happy so I got their blessing!".
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