Rangel an Angel for Swansea homeless

Swans fans have been used to cheering Angel Rangel’s battling performances in a white shirt, but on Friday night they were singing his praises off the field.

The Spanish defender took to the streets with wife Nikki to deliver food to the city’s homeless as the snow battered south Wales and other parts of the UK.

Using social networking website Twitter, the 30-year-old asked his followers where he would be able to find the less fortunate in the city as he and his wife “got food going spare”.

It has been reported that Mr and Mrs Rangel had been at a food chain when the manager informed them that the leftovers would be thrown away when they closed. Shocked, the pair drove the streets with the food looking for those in need, and ended up at a homeless shelter.

But he didn’t want to take all the credit, telling the world: “Thanks so much for the suggestions. It was @MI55Y_28 [wife Nikki’s account] idea so we are driving around. Terrible to be out in this weather.”

Shocked Twitter users lavished the pair with praise. BBC favourite Juliette Ferrington beamed: “especially when players are criticised so often it's good to hear about @arangelz giving out food.”

The Times’ Tony Barrett added: “The coldest night in a long time & Swansea City's @arangelz has been out on the streets giving food to the homeless. #topclass.”

One Swansea fan described them as “role models”.

Rangel later Tweeted to those singing his praises: “Wow we r amazed at the amount of tweets we r receiving. Thanks a lot but it was just a little gesture we drove for only 1 hour and felt great.”