Leyton Orient’s Omar Beckles is elected the new chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association

Leyton Orient defender Omar Beckles has been elected the new chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association.

The 31-year-old was chosen by fellow members of the PFA Players’ Board, the formal player representation body within the union which is made up of elected PFA members from the Premier League, WSL and EFL.

‘I’m honoured to be elected to this role. It’s a real privilege to be chosen to represent the players,’ said Beckles, who replaces John Mousinho after the latter was recently appointed Portsmouth head coach.

‘We really want the PFA to be player-centric, with members at the heart of what the union does.

‘I’ll be the link from the dressing room, making sure that the players are at the centre of everything we do.

Leyton Orient defender Omar Beckles has been elected the new chair of the PFA

Beckles takes over from John Mousinho, who recently became the manager of Portsmouth

‘I’m looking forward to fighting the members’ corner and building on the great work done by John Mousinho.’

Beckles, whose previous clubs include Accrington, Shrewsbury and Crewe, has been a long-term ambassador for promoting positive change in the areas of mental health and wellbeing and last year was recognised for his work at Orient with the League Two PFA Player in the Community Award at the EFL Awards.

‘Omar brings a wealth of experience to the role. I’ve already enjoyed working with him as a member of the players’ board and I’m looking forward to continuing and building on that relationship,’ said PFA chief executive Maheta Molango.