After he won the nation’s hearts during England’s World Cup campaign, the public are backing a petition to see the defender on the new £50 note
A petition to have England star Harry Maguire pictured riding an inflatable unicorn on the back of the new £50 note has over 6,000 signatures.
The Leicester City centre-back and his fellow countrymen captured the hearts of the nation over the summer as their efforts saw the Three Lions reach a World Cup semi-final for the first time since 1990.
The togetherness of the team was well-documented, no more so than in a break between fixtures in which the England players raced against each other across a swimming pool on inflatable unicorns, and it is the image of Maguire doing so that has become the focus of Twitter user Jonny Sharples’ new campaign.
The defender, who started his career with boyhood club Sheffield United, became one of the nation’s favourite members of Gareth Southgate’s squad for reasons both on and off the pitch.
It was Maguire who headed home to break the deadlock in England’s 2-0 quarter-final victory over Sweden , rising high and powerfully meeting Ashley Young’s corner before Dele Alli doubled that lead in the second half.
This goal came among a number of commanding performances as one of Southgate’s back three in Russia and after an assist for Harry Kane in the team’s opening game of the tournament against Tunisia.
His popularity was also increased as an image of him speaking to his girlfriend in the stands went viral, with particular thanks to some comical captions by Kyle Walker on Twitter.
There are certainly some barriers in the way of the request for Maguire to be pictured on a bank note though. For a petition to prompt a debate in Parliament, it must have at least 100,000 signatures, and the Bank of England also do not print figures on notes who are still living.
However, Sharples and the rest of those behind the idea will hope that the powers that be remember the World Cup as fondly as they do and overlook the small print to consider Maguire a contender for the new note, for which Southgate too has also been put forward for by fans.
You can support the campaign and sign the petition right here .