Harry Maguire, a unicorn and a petition to get them on the new £50 note

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments252

A mocked up design of a proposed new £50 note
A mocked up design of a proposed new £50 note

Could Harry Maguire really be the face of the new £50 note?

England defender Kyle Walker has now joined the push for international team-mate Maguire to feature on the new design - while riding an inflatable unicorn.

Created by Jonny Sharples, the petition has already gained more than 15,000 signatures.

Sharples told BBC Radio 5 live that it would be recognition for England reaching the World Cup semi-finals in the summer.

He hopes Maguire's representation of "core British values - bravery, strength, and a big head", will persuade the Bank of England to seriously consider his suggestion.

"Make it happen England!" Manchester City's Walker tweeted.external-link "A bigger amount needs a bigger head".

Kyle Walker tweeted a picture of himself on a £5 note and backed Maguire to be on the new £50 note
Kyle Walker tweeted a picture of himself on a £5 note and backed Maguire to be on the new £50 note

Leicester defender Maguire replied to the tweet and Sharples said he was "shocked" the England players had got involved.

"Hopefully more of them will share it and it will get a lot more signatures," he added.

Maguire was pictured riding the inflatable unicorn in a swimming pool while the England squad relaxed at the World Cup in Russia.

The Bank of England is redesigning the £50 note and has a committee which asks for public nominations in a chosen field.

Sadly for Sharples, and Maguire, it seems unlikely that the centre-back will feature on the note - the Bank of Englandexternal-link states that it avoids "fictional characters, or people who are still living (except the monarch on the front of the note)".

A separate petition for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died in 2013, has about 11,000 signatures.

Steam engine pioneers James Watt and Matthew Boulton appear on the current £50, issued in 2011.

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252 comments

  • Comment posted by U17190321, at 10:00 17 Oct 2018

    If they don't put Harry on the new note well as a suggestion, how about Stephen Hawking, brilliant man inspirational and everyone knew him. I think it would be a fitting tribute to the great man.

  • Comment posted by Krzysztof, at 08:54 17 Oct 2018

    I know it's a joke. I know it's quite funny. It also shows that it's easier to get 15 000 signatures (with name and address) on stupid/funny petition than something that actually mean anything. This is the face of humanity and democracy.

  • Comment posted by AndyB_MOT, at 09:38 17 Oct 2018

    Out of the roughly 120 million people to have lived in Britain in the last 100 years, I can think of about five who I'd want on the £50 note less than Margaret Thatcher.

  • Comment posted by Meadowender, at 09:34 17 Oct 2018

    Anyone but Thatcher

  • Comment posted by Don Keyzed 65, at 09:43 17 Oct 2018

    #19 Pinochet did nothing wrong

    Put Thatcher the Milk Snatcher on the £50 note????????????? GOOD GRIEF!!!

    The irony must pass you by!

    By the time she had finished with this country, nobody north of Watford knew what a £50 note looked like

  • Comment posted by GunnerBear, at 10:59 17 Oct 2018

    @46 Posted by Fowlers_Left_Peg

    This is the appropriate way to commemorate Thatcher, on something the average working person in Britain will never see.

    Thatcher caused so much social division in the UK that she should never be commemorated. It was a total disregard for the millions of lives that her ideology ruined that she was afforded a state funeral.

    So many more worthy than her.

  • Comment posted by MartyP, at 13:21 17 Oct 2018

    I put a vote in for Alan Turing,played a huge role in WW2 in secret, was then condemned to prison and posthumously pardoned

    Would be a great tribute

  • Comment posted by Vandermars, at 08:42 17 Oct 2018

    Unicorn theme will fit in nicely with brexit too

  • Comment posted by LivingDeadGrrrl, at 10:44 17 Oct 2018

    Isambard Kingdom Brunel would be a sensible suggestion. I also second the suggestion of Stephen Hawking @30 - Pinocchio.

  • Comment posted by Gary, at 11:57 17 Oct 2018

    lol after reading some of these comments its pretty clear some people need to lighten up, its pretty obvious the chap who started the petition did it as a joke, its also pretty obvious even with 50 million votes that Maguire will not be put on the bank note. Its a joke enjoy it or move on

  • Comment posted by U15703713, at 16:01 17 Oct 2018

    Alan Turing gets my vote, a man badly let down by the countries elite. They make the law!

  • Comment posted by PaulGT, at 13:27 17 Oct 2018

    I would rather see Paddington Bear on a banknote before a footballer.

  • Comment posted by Meadowender, at 10:04 17 Oct 2018

    Thank you BBC for removing the link to the thatcher petition

    (Also pleased to see that Harry Maguire has received more votes anyway)

  • Comment posted by Don Keyzed 65, at 09:25 17 Oct 2018

    #12. Swansea-Fox

    Nicola Sturgeon riding a haggis, painted in blue pretending to be Rob Roy.

    Surely the war cry would need to be FAN DABBY DOZEY......

  • Comment posted by PeterJ, at 10:22 17 Oct 2018

    What's a £50.00 note ?

  • Comment posted by Glad All Over - CPFC, at 10:16 17 Oct 2018

    Inflatable Unicorns ridden:

    Margaret Thatcher - 0
    Harry Maguire - 1

    The statistics don’t lie.

  • Comment posted by U17190321, at 13:06 17 Oct 2018

    Why must people be so serious, it's tongue in cheek a bit of a laugh, as I said put Stephen Hawking on or IK Brunel.

  • Comment posted by Simon, at 16:51 17 Oct 2018

    What an awful idea. To have to look at such a cheap tasteless image on our currency. As if these over paid dullards need anymore recognition.

  • Comment posted by Defund Defund Defund, at 15:55 17 Oct 2018

    Stephen Hawking or Alan Turing! - Brilliant! Wonder if the petition has started yet.

    Keith Palmer has my sympathy, but should be remembered in a more appropriate context.

  • Comment posted by Braaphootswartleberryboroughfordshireton, at 13:27 17 Oct 2018

    Let's celebrate mediocrity by putting a bloke with a big head from a team that failed to win anything on our largest note.

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