Tyrone Mings has revealed how growing up in a homeless shelter helped turn him into the man he is today.
While at primary school, Mings was forced to live in a homeless shelter with his mum, Dawn, and three sisters for one year.
After being released by the Southampton academy at the age of 15, he considered quitting football altogether as he took on a job at a pub pulling pints and then becoming a mortgage adviser.
Fast forward a decade and the 26-year-old has earned a £25million move to Aston Villa and is on the brink of an England cap after a surprise call-up to Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo.
And Mings told talkSPORT’s Ian ‘The Moose’ Abrahams how the years of hardship prepared him for this moment.
He said: “I think in moments of difficulty, there are always moments of positivity you can take away from them.
“And lessons you can learn from any experience that you go through.
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“So everything I experienced growing up, a lot of people would have gone through different backgrounds and upbringings.
“But it has definitely given me an ability to empathise with other people maybe outside of the game, or people that aren’t as fortunate as me.
“So, not that I feel it is my duty, but I really enjoy being able to lend a hand and give back to people that are in situations that I was not too far away from at a certain time in my life.
“So I think, as footballers, we are in the public eye and we are role models to kids growing up. So I think we have to try and do what we can to help out and give back where we can.”
It has been some journey to this point for Mings, who early in his career plyed his trade for non-League outfits Yate and Chippenham Town and worked as a mortgage adviser at London and Country.
He added: “I had other goals at the time when I was a mortgage advisor and playing non-league football.
“Playing for England seemed like a different world away. I just needed to get back into the professional game at that point.
“I can’t say while I was sat at my desk cold-calling or trying to help people remortgage that playing for England was a real achievable goal.
“But as I’ve worked with some great coaches and been able to play for some great clubs, everything has kind of culminated together to get me to this point.
“At different times I’ve had to reassess my goals but it makes it all the more sweeter sitting here now.”
England vs Bulgaria is live on talkSPORT on Saturday, with the Euro 2020 qualifier kicking off at 5pm
