young was born in stevenage, hertfordshire. he has one older brother and two football-playing younger brothers, lewis, who made his debut for watford in 2008, and kyle, who in april 2009 was training at the arsenal academy. young attended the john henry newman school in stevenage, and played school football alongside formula one driver lewis hamilton, who was in the same year. young's jamaican-born father supports tottenham hotspur, while young himself, like his older brother, favoured arsenal. his hero and "role model on and off the pitch" was ian wright. young has been married to nicky pike since june 2015. they had planned a wedding in 2011 but called it off two days before.