Andy Iro - Personal Life

Personal Life

He is the son of Paul and Rose Iro, and has seven brothers and one sister. He grew up in Toxteth, England. Iro left school at the age of 16, and stated a desire to "work on his own schedule". His mother took £1,000 she had saved from working as a nurse, and gave it to Iro to invest. He subsequently used the money to renovate a run-down property next to his family home and open a grocery store. At this time in his life, Iro, who had excelled in football, rugby and boxing, admitted that sport was an "afterthought" — due to the capital his business was generating. However, Iro was shot in the thigh during a robbery in his store, and this served as the catalyst for him to find another career to pursue. He handed over ownership of his store to a relative, and briefly worked in a bank.

In 2004, after sending several hundred emails to colleges throughout the US, he used the money he had saved from working to take up the offer of a scholarship at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Iro stated he wished to go to university in the US solely for educational purposes, and described playing football alongside his studies as a "bonus". He graduated from UCSB with a degree in sociology and a minor in sports management.

Iro supports Newcastle United, as well as Italian Serie A side Juventus. He states that his favourite players are Fabio Cannavaro and Steven Gerrard. He enjoys watching television, and lists his three favourite programmes as Family Guy, Entourage, and South Park, as well as stating his favourite movie is Gladiator.