‘They’re local lads’: artist puts mural of Bellingham and Rogers on chip shop

The mural of local-born heroes Jude Bellingham (left) and Morgan Rogers at the Classic Fryer chip shop in Quinton. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian View image in fullscreen The mural of local-born heroes Jude Bellingham (left) and Morgan Rogers at the Classic Fryer chip shop in Quinton. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian ‘They’re local lads’: artist puts mural of Bellingham and Rogers on chip shop The mural in a Birmingham suburb is so popular that the shop’s owner is opening two hours early to meet demand On a busy junction in Quinton, a suburb of Birmingham, England football stars Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers are peering out from the side of a fish and chip shop, tucking into the local delicacy: orange chips. The huge lifelike image was pasted on the wall on Friday afternoon by a local guerilla artist seeking to foster West Midlands pride, both for the area’s footballing stars and for its distinctive neon battered chips. It’s since become a viral sensation on social media, and has attracted attention from a steady stream of passersby looking to celebrate their homegrown talent, from excursions of pensioners from the local old person’s home to a group of children with Down’s syndrome. The mural has proven so popular that Classic Fryer’s owner has started opening two hours early and hired two extra staff members to meet demand from fans coming to look at it. View image in fullscreen Artist Dion Kitson with his mural. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Local artist Dion Kitson, who has 27,700 followers on Instagram, said the mural had received the biggest response he had ever experienced, including posts from Bellingham and Rogers. “My phone’s been on fire,” he said. Other local businesses are begging him to put up a Bellingham mural on their walls. “It’s a beautiful moment that’ll stay with me for ever, it melts your heart. Football transcends everything,” he added. Kitson wanted his painting of the England stars to challenge “the dark side of patriotism” he had seen online and instead “try to channel the correct side of that, with football, sport, local pride, heritage culture and chips – and not to be a statement politically, it’s just about feeling good”. He hoped that the focus on Bellingham, who grew up in nearby Stourbridge, would challenge some stigma around the Black Country and its industrial legacy. “It’s strange that he’s from our neck of the woods, having role models that sound like us,” he said. “I’m quite protective over the Black Country. I grew up here, and I’ve been in the art world since I was 18, and I’ve had to put up with people thinking I’m an idiot and I’m not educated, and I have more degrees than them.” He picked the Quinton junction because it is between Birmingham and Stourbridge. “I quite like the idea that as a school kid or something he would have came through here,” he said. “I like the idea that I can put Dudley or the Black Country or Birmingham on the map.” Classic Fryer’s own