Anti-racism campaigner Lord Herman Ouseley has died at the age of 79 following a ‘short illness’.
The campaigner, who shared two children with his teacher wife, Margaret, was seen as one of Britain’s foremost campaigners for social justice in sport and led the charity Kick It Out for a quarter of a century.
He sat in the House of Lord as a crossbencher from 2001 until his retirement in 2019 and was once named as one of 100 Great Black Britons.
Lord Ouseley passed away last night following a brief illness, Kick It Out confirmed today, with the charity releasing a statement that paid tribute to a ‘titan’ the battle against racism in football.
The statement read: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Lord Herman Ouseley after a short illness. Lord Ouseley was a titan in tackling discrimination in football over the 25 years he was chair of Kick It Out, having founded Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football in 1993.
‘He was also a fearless advocate for underrepresented and disadvantaged communities and will be sorely missed. Lord Ouseley’s vision to set up Kick It Out was the first true structural change in football to take on a problem that had blighted the game for decades.
‘Fans and participants are now more aware of discrimination and how to challenge it, which is a legacy of the tenacity and vigour he showed in ensuring football continued to change.
‘We owe him a huge debt of gratitude and vow to continue that legacy for the benefit of future generations. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.’
Lord Ouseley was outspoken in his fight against discrimination, and in 2018 slammed football chiefs for failing to publicly support Raheem Sterling when he suffered racist abuse at Stamford Bridge.
Among those paying tribute to him today was Troy Townsend MBE, a former footballer and fellow anti-racism activist, who spoke of his impressive legacy.
He wrote on X: ‘Back in 2020 I was so grateful to pay tribute to this legend of a man whilst he accepted a Special Recognition Award from Pride of Britain.
‘Lord Herman Ouseley, I owe you a debt of gratitude for everything you did for me, for football & society. May your pain be no more.’
Mr Townsend called him ‘the greatest’, adding: ‘[He] stood up when others stayed silent. Took on an industry that allowed racism to flourish.
‘Looked people in the eye and demanded they change. Whether it was football or politics Herman took on all comers. I’m very proud to be part of his legacy.’
Born Herman George Ouseley in Guyana in 1946, Lord Ouseley came to Britain at the age of 12 and was educated at William Penn Primary School and at Catford College.
He enjoyed a successful career in local government, which saw him serve as Chief Executive of the London Borough of Lambeth.
He was also the first black CEO of the former Inner London Education Authority, which oversaw more than a thousand schools and colleges around the capital.
Lord Ousley set up Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football in 1993 and served as the head of the Commission for Racial Equality from 1993 to 2000.
He was made a Life Peer in 2001, and went on to rack up 13 honorary degrees from institutions including the Universities of Edinburgh, Warwick and Brighton.
Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football changed its name to Kick It Out, with Lord Ousley leading the organisation until December 2018.
A week earlier he had made one of his most powerful interventions to date, slamming the heads of the Premier League and the FA after comments Raheem Sterling had made about racist abuse he received from a Chelsea fan and his concerns about the coverage of black footballers in the media.
Lord Ousley said: ‘Where is Richard Scudamore (Premier League executive chairman)? Where is Greg Clarke (FA chairman)? Where is Chelsea’s chairman (Bruce Buck)?’ he said.
‘They should have been talking out, and it has to be dealt with at the top. We don’t have any leadership at the top of the game to speak out. They rely on Kick it Out.’
The parliamentarian received hate mail since speaking out but insisted this did not play a role in his decision to step down.
However, in a subsequent statement, he seemed exasperated by the ‘afflictions’ of prejudice and hatred in society, the ‘slow process of change’ and the lack of cohesion among football’s elite.
‘When I set (it) up, I hoped the football authorities would take it on board and tackle the problem,’ he said. ‘It proved to be a long haul with a slow process of change in pursuit of equality, inclusion and cohesion.
‘Recent progress is offset by the wider society afflictions of prejudice and hatred from which football can’t escape.
‘Over the past decade, I have indicated my wish each year to step down and hand the reins to younger equality advocates and campaigners but have always been told, ‘not now, this is the wrong time’. No-one else has stuck their head above the parapet to lead the organisation.
‘Well, now is the right time for new leadership of Kick It Out as I refocus my life for new challenges after 56 years of public service.
‘I have thrown challenges at the leaders in football and they need to show their hands — show they are capable of bringing about lasting change if they all come together out of their silos and take a dynamic and coherent approach to meeting the challenges.
‘Kick It Out is well positioned with excellent staff to keep the momentum of activity afloat in helping football to be a powerhouse for equality, inclusion and diversity.
‘It is also well positioned to continue its excellent work in helping to prepare the next generation of players for the diversity of cultures in the game and to handle all inequalities, discrimination and prejudice.
‘There is so much to be done before I sign off next year, so onwards with the action while I prepare to hang up my boots.’
In a separate interview with The Times , Lord Ouseley said it had been his intention to ‘be around for six months’ after launching the anti-racism campaign.
‘It has been a labour of love,’ he said before adding that for too long he had neglected his family life. ‘It has been quite a journey, I’ve had a kicking now and then and it takes its toll.
‘I had a few bits of nasty reaction and some hate mail after what I said (about Sterling) but that’s not unusual. I wanted to ask, ‘where are the employers in this?’. Why weren’t the top people at the FA, Chelsea and the Premier League speaking out about it?
‘The stuff that Sterling put into the public arena is so important. This is a player who has not just been abused during his career, but has been the victim of a racially-motivated physical attack by an opposition supporter at his club’s training ground.
‘It is all the contributing factors to prejudice. It’s what’s written in the print media, what politicians say, all the messages around immigration and Brexit — who is welcome in Britain and who is not.
‘The prejudice is still there. Prejudice is there in all of us, it’s about how we manage it. In society, it goes up and it goes down but it is always there — just look at the USA now.’