Anton Ferdinand is currently a mentor and ambassador for new era global sports management and retired professional footballer played for England u21s, West Ham, Sunderland, QPR, Reading and Southend. He is one of only 13 defenders to win premier league player of the month and more recently, a bafta nominee for his BBC 1 documentary Anton Ferdinand: football racism and me.

On his appointment to the board, he said: “Football is of course a love of mine as I’ve played it my whole life. But as a child I really loved horse riding and throughout lockdown have found a real love for walking and exploring my local area. You don’t have to find one sport and physical activity to do forever and I’m looking forward to learning and developing more opportunities for residents across Essex through my time on the board.”