Tyrone Mings

Tyrone is an England international footballer and a Premier League defender for Aston Villa, whose influence stretches beyond the field of play. With 252 professional appearances and 18 caps for England, Tyrone has established himself as one of the nation’s finest central defenders and has also demonstrated that he is not afraid to tackle important subjects outside the sport either. Since joining Championship side Ipswich Town after a trial from Chippenham in 2012, Tyrone has regularly received plaudits for his charitable ventures. While in Suffolk away from his family and aged just 20, he spent Christmas Day feeding the homeless and less fortunate. Later in his career, while helping to launch the Homewards project, Tyrone spoke about his experiences living in emergency accommodation. He is a member of the Prince of Wales’s charitable trust, which has pledged £3m in funding to make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated”. In 2017 Tyrone started his own youth footballing academy called The Tyrone Mings Academy, based in Bristol. It is open to children aged 6 to 16 and aims to bring the fun back to football in a fun, safe and professional environment. Tyrone says football can be a ‘pioneer’ in tackling racism in society He has been described by Aston Villa as “an inspirational figure at the forefront of the fight against racism.”