A touching mural of former Wales manager Gary Speed has reached the final stages of its completion in Cardiff. The mural has been painted on the side of a building near Cardiff City Stadium and is part of a project by the team behind the My City My Shirt campaign.
The death of the 42-year-old manager at his Cheshire home on November 27, 2011 left football fans stunned. You can read more about the inexplicable tragedy ten years on here.
The mural is on the junction of Atlas Road and Leckwith Road and close to the stadium that saw Wales recently qualify for the World Cup when they beat Ukraine 1-0. A group of Cardiff creatives called Unify, the team behind the My City My Shirt campaign, aim to encourage more people to connect with their city and football.
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The My City, My Shirt mural in Butetown, dubbed Cardiff's 'Mona Lisa', features mother-of-two Maimuna Yoncana, originally from Guinea-Bissau, wearing a Cardiff City shirt and cradling her baby bump. The mural was designed to celebrate the diversity of the capital and was painted in April 2021 as part of a project of the same name organised by Cardiff creatives Yusuf Ismail and Shawqi Hasson.
The much-loved mural was recently re-painted after the original was painted over to make way for a McDonald's advert. The mural is now in a new location, just across the road on James Street, after it was re-painted with the help of Unify Creative and McDonald's.
Another My City, My Shirt mural can be seen on Cardiff's Quay Street, featuring freelance artist and creative, Nicole Ready, wearing a yellow Wales away shirt. The striking mural, again put together by Yusuf and Shawqi, was painted by renowned Welsh street artist, Bradley Rmer One.
Yusuf said that the Gary Speed mural was something they had been talking about for some time. He previously said : "We felt there was not really a lasting tribute to the manager who was instrumental in what we are seeing with the Wales football team today. We had hoped to have it ready before the Ukraine game but it is quite a complex undertaking, so it took a bit longer. But he hopes it will be a lasting legacy for his family and his fans in his memory and also as a tribute to the Welsh team."
After the mural started to take shape earlier this month, just days after Wales qualified for the World Cup, it is now nearing completion. Featuring a portrait of the former Wales manager, it is emblazoned with the words, 'Only one Gary Speed.'
