Morrissey gave £50,000 to help save the Salford Lads Club which is famous for its iconic photo of The Smiths.
Salford Lads Club is shown on The Smiths’ ‘The Queen Is Dead’ album cover. The club is at risk of closing because of rising costs and less grant funding. To stay open, it needs to raise £250,000 by mid-November.
The venue became famous in 1986 when The Smiths used a picture of it on their third album cover. Today, it still helps young people from struggling communities in Greater Manchester by offering sports activities six days a week.
Morrissey donated £50,000 to a public fundraiser on GoFundMe, joining over 1,100 others who are trying to save the venue. His donation brings the total raised to £216,000, helping to keep the club open for another year.
Laura Slingsby, who leads youth programs at Salford Lads Club, said they are ‘deeply grateful’ for the support. She said, “His support is more than a financial contribution; it’s a powerful endorsement of our mission and a tribute to the club’s enduring role in the lives of young people and the cultural heart of Salford.”
Slingsby also shared that the donation was first anonymous, but Morrissey’s team later confirmed it was from him. “He didn’t wish to make a statement but he is happy if it helps us to go public with it,” she stated.
This isn’t the first time Morrissey has helped the venue. In 2007, he gave £20,000 for important repairs. Last week, Graham Nash, who grew up in Salford in the ’40s and ’50s and was a member of the club, donated £10,000 to help save it.
The fundraiser has also received support from Courteeners and Tim Burgess, the lead singer of The Charlatans, who is from Salford. In addition to being on The Smiths’ album cover, Salford Lads Club has appeared in TV shows and movies like ‘Peaky Blinders,’ ‘Last Tango In Halifax,’ ‘Mrs Biggs,’ ‘Cold Feet,’ and ‘Blue Murder.’ Last year, the famous club was rented out by luxury brand Chanel for a big event before its show in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.