England’s Tyrone Mings stands tall with composure off the pitch and on it

Defender’s international debut in Bulgaria came in the worst possible environment and his decision to call out racist chanting may have lasting impact

“Did you hear that?” With those four words, Tyrone Mings set in motion a process that could have seen England walk off the pitch and abandon their match against Bulgaria on Monday night. In the end they did not, with action against the persistent racist abuse from the stands of Sofia’s Vasil Levski Stadium stopping short of the ultimate step in Uefa’s three-point protocol. But the way that Mings dealt with his experience, and the way his England teammates and coaches did too, might perhaps have a longer-term effect in the struggle against racism. Did you hear that Uefa? Did you hear that people at home?

It was certainly not the kind of environment in which anyone should have to make their international debut. Mings, the Aston Villa centre-half, said he and his teammates had clocked racist chanting from sections of the Bulgarian support before the match had even started. Then, halfway through the first half, and amid a hail of monkey noises, not to mention Nazi salutes in the stands and a general sense that parts of the local crowd were there for the abuse and not the football, the game came to a halt. Warning messages were read to the crowd over the PA system before play restarted but it stopped again just before half-time. At the interval as many as 50 of the most abusive supporters left the ground.

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