Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X: Just some of the tattoos on Andre Gray's back
How’s this for an incredible tattoo – Black Country footballer Andre Gray has had dozens of famous faces tattooed on to his back.
Gray, who plays as a striker for Premier League club Watford, has had the images of political figures including Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Rosa Parks and members of the Black Panthers, including Dr Huey Percy Newton and Bobby Seale tattooed on his back.
Also gracing the Wednesfield-born footballer’s skin are musician Bob Marley, boxer Muhammad Ali, American football players holding up their firsts in solidarity and other figures of black nationalism and power.
The images also reference important dates in the African-American civil rights movement which ran from 1954 to 1968, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott which began when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.
The tattoo spans the entirety of the ex-Wolves youth back and also spreads along the back of his upper arms.
Tweeting about the tattoo and uploading an image of his back onto the social media site on Thursday, @AndreGray7 said, simply: “Master Piece!!”
The image and tweet was like 8,600 times and re-tweeted 30,000 times. It also attracted more than 100 comments of praise from followers.
The former Burnley striker had previously made headline news for his tweets in 2016 when he was handed a four-match ban for homophobic Twitter posts made in 2012.
Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing in September 2016, Gray was also fined £25,000, warned as to his future conduct and ordered to attend an FA education course.
