Kiyan Prince aged 15 was tipped to play for England
(Picture: QPR)When the numbers came back, there was a sense of disbelief at Queens Park Rangers.
Andy Evans, the CEO of QPR in the Community, had never seen anything like it. Through their Long Live the Prince project, a 15-year-old who had never played a single professional game had impacted a combined reach of more than three billion people.
People at QPR have always known the story of Kiyan Prince. Now, the legacy of the murdered teenager and the work of the Kiyan Prince Foundation [KPF] has gone worldwide.
It is almost 16 years since Prince, a promising player in the QPR academy, was fatally stabbed in May 2006 while trying to break up a fight outside his school.
The work of the KPF, established in 2008 and driven by his father Mark Prince, has kept his memory alive and helped educate young people about the consequences of knife crime.
Last year, the KPF worked with QPR, marketing agency Engine and EA Sports to bring Kiyan back to life as the professional footballer he should have been in the FIFA 21 video game.
EA Sports developers worked closely with Prince’s family, friends, former teammates and coaches to integrate him into the game, and added him to the QPR squad.
The impact was staggering. His story tallied a combined reach of three billion people, and helped the KPF receive three years’ worth of donations in one day alone - though KPH and Prince are keen for this to only be the start, the fundraising and work continues every day.
It has led to QPR and the Long Live the Prince project being nominated for Community Project of the Year at this year's London Football Awards, which take place on Thursday.
“Seeing those numbers... that makes me immensely proud of us as a football club," says Evans. “We see ourselves as a community club, and just as importantly, a club that actually cares.
“It goes beyond my wildest dreams. We see about 20,000 people a year in the community, so to go from that to those numbers is phenomenal.”
The project was an emotional ride for the Prince family, too. Through the creative studio Framestore, and input from his family and former teammates and coaches, EA Sports developed the player Prince would have been, from ageing his appearance using images from his teen years to developing his on-pitch characteristics and style of play.
“It was a really tough journey because it brought up a lot of memories but it brought up a lot of joy as well because I love hearing about my son,” says Mark Prince, who relives the loss of his son on a daily basis as he talks to young people in schools, youth centres and prisons about the dangers and damage of knife crime, as well as transforming lives for good.
“I got to hear stories that I'd not heard before, about Kiyan as a character and on the pitch, I got an even greater insight into him as a baller. It has been quite emotional.”
Prince adds: “It's hard to explain, you're never really going to know what your son looks like. They did a fantastic job, bringing to life a really special individual who would have had a big impact on the world, whether he was playing football or anything else.”
Every business should want to get involved in saving the lives of young people.
That is the message Prince now tries to deliver through the Foundation and through this project - which provided a visual embodiment of what can come from a life unaffected by knife crime to an audience that may never have been reached through conventional methods.
For the KPF, it is only a starting point, with Prince calling on other big companies to follow the lead of EA Sports, as well as adidas - who agreed an in game boot deal - and JD Sports, who ran an advertising campaign fronted by Kiyan.
“People have come on board and these are huge brands so they have set that benchmark,” says Prince.
“I don't think brands should be looking at knife crime [and saying] do we want to get involved? Every business should want to get involved in saving the lives of young people.”
