John McGinn has been painted doing his iconic goggle celebration on the side of a house in Clydebank.
A stunning mural celebrating Scotland hero John McGinn has appeared in his hometown ahead of the World Cup.
The eye-catching painting, perched on a house close to where he grew up in Clydebank, captures McGinn performing his iconic goggle celebration. The former St Mirren and Hibernian star previously revealed he first pulled out the famous gesture for his nephew, Jack, who wears goggles while playing football because of his poor eyesight.
Alongside McGinn, the striking artwork proudly displays his Scotland squad number – seven – and the words: “Made in Clydebank. From Girders”, a cheeky nod to Irn-Bru’s legendary mid-80s slogan. The Record understands the mural is part of an upcoming campaign for the beloved soft drink.
The Aston Villa captain was born and raised in Clydebank to his parents Stephen and Mary, where he attended St Columba’s High School and St Peter the Apostle High School. His brothers, Stephen and Paul, also play professional football while his grandfather, Jack McGinn, was once Celtic’s chairman and Scottish Football Association president.
John McGinn is no stranger to seeing himself splashed across a wall, with theWitton Arms pub beside Villa Park in Birmingham also boasting a mural of him doing his trademark celebration. A chant adored by the Tartan Army sits alongside it, declaring: “We’ve got McGinn…Super John McGinn”.
Other Scotland heroes have also recently seen murals spring up in tribute to their incredible achievements. Captain Andy Robertson paid a visit to his own mural last week on Tancred Road, just a short stroll from Anfield.
Painted by MurWalls, it features a powerful portrait of Robertson touching the Liver bird on his chest alongside the message ‘Born in Glasgow, made in Liverpool’. References to the nine trophies he has lifted as a Red are also included, as well as the chant supporters have serenaded him with over the years.
That comes after Scott McTominay’s World Cup-sending overhead kick against Denmark was immortalised in a mural just a stone’s throw from Hampden Park. Alex Coyle, known online as Alko, described the painstaking process of recreating Scott McTominay’s sensational overhead kick, which fired Scotland to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
He teamed up with two England-based street artists, Dan Gudgeon and Harvey Whetton, after being commissioned by hand-painted advertising company Global Street Art. The trio spent four gruelling days bringing the massive mural to life on a wall at the end of a tenement block on Somerville Drive in February.
Alex said he was thrilled to be involved. He previously said: “I was pretty happy, because originally [Global Street Art] had just said they had a job for me in Glasgow. And then they sent a depiction of the actual design, and I thought ‘that’s definitely going to be a big deal’.”
The artists began by covering the entire wall in black paint, followed by a layer of Scotland blue. Alex admitted this was the most laborious part of the job.
He continued: “Sometimes you get a bit bored using the roller on the pebble-dash wall. We painted the whole thing black and then the whole thing blue. That’s what takes the biggest amount of time. It’s manually taxing and always a bit boring.”
Once the background was complete, the team moved on to the detailed work using spray paint, taking turns across different levels of scaffolding.
“Our team leader Dan directed us, but we all have pretty similar skills, so we just took turns with whatever needed doing and what parts we fancied doing,” Alex said.
The unpredictable Glasgow weather added a further challenge. He added: “It was quite cold, but on the Wednesday, it was pretty windy.
“I was trying to hold onto the reference image but it was blowing about quite a lot when I was at the top of the scaffolding. But that’s better than if it was raining.”
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