Early career Mings was born in
Bath, Somerset to former non-League striker Adie Mings. Mings joined
Southampton in 2001 as an eight-year-old, but was released in 2009 when the youth budget was axed. After leaving Southampton, he attended
Millfield school in Somerset for two years on a football scholarship. Having graduated, Mings went on trial with
Eastleigh but was not offered a contract.
Yate Town Mings then signed for
Southern Football League Division One South & West club
Yate Town in Gloucestershire in July 2010. He scored two goals during his time at Yate Town. He won the 2010–11
Gloucestershire Senior Cup with Yate Town.
Chippenham Town In the summer of 2012, he considered quitting football before eventually signing for
Southern League Premier Division club
Chippenham Town, representing the town he grew up in. Mings combined his non-League career with jobs as a barman and a mortgage advisor.
Ipswich Town in 2014 Mings signed for
Ipswich Town in December 2012 after a short trial for a fee of
£10,000 and an agreement for Ipswich to play a pre-season friendly game against Chippenham. On 4 May 2013, Mings made his debut for Ipswich on the last day of the
2012–13 season against
Burnley. He made 18 appearances during the season, making 6 starts and 12 substitute appearances. Mings started the
2014–15 season as the starting left-back, starting on the opening day of the season in a 2–1 win against
Fulham. He continued to feature as a key part of the team throughout the season. On 10 October 2014, Mings won the
Championship Player of the Month award for September. He scored his first goal for the club on 24 February 2015, netting the opening goal in a 4–2 home win over
Birmingham City at
Portman Road. Mings made 44 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season, scoring once, helping Ipswich to reach the
Championship play-offs. Mings made his Premier League debut for Bournemouth on 29 August 2015 in a 1–1 draw with
Leicester City. However, he suffered a knee injury six minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute. On 3 September 2015, it was confirmed that Mings' injury would mean that he would be sidelined for between 9 and 12 months. On 13 December 2016, he made his comeback after 15 months as a late substitute in a 1–0 home win over defending champions Leicester City, the same opponent when he got injured in his debut. On 8 March 2017, Mings was banned by
the FA for five matches following an alleged stamp on
Zlatan Ibrahimović in a 1–1 draw against
Manchester United on the previous weekend.
Aston Villa in 2021
Initial loan On 31 January 2019, 25-year-old Mings joined
Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season. He made his Villa debut on 2 February against
Reading. The match was the subject of controversy following an incident where Mings stepped on the face of Reading forward
Nélson Oliveira after a tussle for the ball. Oliveira was forced off with deep gashes to his forehead and nose. Mings later apologised, insisting that it was not intentional. As referee Geoff Eltringham had seen the incident and determined that it was accidental, no retrospective action was taken. Mings scored his first Villa goal in his second game, on 8 February 2019. He scored in the 82nd minute of the home game against
Sheffield United. At that point, Aston Villa had been losing 3–0, but they went on to complete a late comeback to draw the game 3–3. Despite Villa's poor run of form at that time, Mings was a standout performer and quickly became a fan favourite despite only recently arriving from Bournemouth. Villa had a change in form after the return of
Jack Grealish from injury, during which Villa picked up a ten-game winning streak, in the fifth of which Mings scored the winning goal in a 2–1 win over
Blackburn Rovers. On 27 May 2019, Mings played in the
2019 Championship play-off final, where he helped Villa beat
Derby County 2–1, and gain promotion to the Premier League.
Premier League Mings signed for Aston Villa permanently on 8 July 2019. The fee was believed to be an initial £20million, with add-ons that could total £25million. After the
UK government announced resumption of sports and Premier League announced the return of teams as part of "
Project Restart" from 17 June, Mings claimed that the players were the last to be consulted and were only treated as "commodities in the game". On 21 September 2020, Mings signed a new four-year contract with Aston Villa. Following the departure of former captain Jack Grealish, Mings was announced as the new captain of Aston Villa on 14 August 2021, having served as interim captain during Grealish's injury in the second half of the 2020–21 season. On 27 July 2022, it was announced that Aston Villa manager
Steven Gerrard had made the decision to remove the captaincy from Mings for the upcoming season, instead naming
John McGinn as the new captain. Gerrard stated that the decision would allow Mings to focus on his own game without the added pressure of being captain, whereas Mings commented that he had no issues with the choice and only wanted what was best for Aston Villa. On 12 August 2023, the opening day of the
2023–24 season away at
Newcastle United, Mings suffered a significant knee injury, that required him to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher. On 5 October 2024, after 420 days on the sidelines, Mings returned to football as a permitted overage player for
Aston Villa U21s against Newcastle in the
Premier League 2, playing the first 45 minutes. Mings returned to the first team on 30 October, in a
EFL Cup defeat to
Crystal Palace. Mings conceded a penalty on his
Champions League debut on 6 November when, following a short goal kick, he erroneously picked up the ball in his own penalty area during a 1–0 loss to
Club Brugge. His manager
Unai Emery described it as 'the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career'. On 4 June 2025, Mings signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2027. On 1 November 2025, just minutes after coming off the bench in a 2–0 defeat to
Liverpool, Mings injured his
hamstring, which ruled him out for two months. Mings was removed from Aston Villa's
UEFA Europa League squad and replaced by
Ross Barkley in his absence. Also in November, manager
Unai Emery announced that Mings was back in the Aston Villa captaincy picture, acting as one of the first choice backups behind captain John McGinn and vice captain
Ezri Konsa. ==International career==