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1990s Manchester skate footage from Rik Cooper
One of the few skateboarding-specific upsides to the current Corona Virus lock down is the emergence of loads of previously unseen archive footage from every corner of the globe with the recent release of 1990s Manchester skate footage from Rik Cooper being the most locally specific gold recently unearthed. For those unfamiliar with Rik Cooper, he was a well known Manchester skater during the BBC Kerbs and Town Hall era who scored a fair bit of coverage in the skate mags of the early 90's , but sadly, not as much as his skill and style deserved (Click here for his 1991 cover of UK Skate Action magazine). Alongside Rik were names such as Femi Bukunola, Darren Mottershead, Si Robson and many others who laid the foundations for MCR's thriving street scene long in the distant past. Manchester Skateboarding V1 from Rik Cooper on Vimeo. Over the last few weeks Rik Cooper has started uploading classic Manchester street footage stretching back to the early 90's featuring many of the main MCR heads of the period, most of which hasn't been seen before outside of their immediate friendship group. The first Vimeo release is above crammed full of 1990s Manchester skate footage from Rik Cooper with such a 90's atmosphere to it that it almost transports me back to a time when my ankles didn't ache walking across the room. Manchester Skateboarding V2 from Rik Cooper on Vimeo. The second release dropped on Rik Cooper's Vimeo a few days ago and contains even more banging street stuff with impeccable backside tailslides from the man himself, plus a brace of BBC Kerbs footage of the crew and a glimpse into how different Manchester city centre looked nearly three decades ago. Whether you know these guys or not - we strongly recommend that you delve straight into this treasure trove of Mancunion skate history and cross your fingers that Rik Cooper keeps uploading footage as he finds it. Whilst we're on the subject of 1990s Manchester skate footage - peep below for a little bit more archive Femi Bukunola skating courtesy of Black Sheep's main man himself. The whole video is worth watching too for a glimpse into the early 90's skate and BMX in the city, along with archive clips of Tom Penny, Geoff Rowley and numerous others.