The Premier League’s first black captain Paul Elliott haș paid a touching tribute to Lord Herman Ouseley, who died following a ‘short illness’.
Lord Ouseley passed away on Monday at the the age of 79 and tributes have been streaming in for the equalities activist.
Ouesley, with former Chelsea captain Elliott, co-founded anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out in 1993.
And Elliott in an emotional letter penned for Mail Sport has lauded his friend’s impact on the modern football landscape.
Elliott wrote: ‘Society, football and communities has lost a most wonderful activist and campaigner who has significantly impacted change over for the last 50 years in this country.
Paul Elliott (pictured in 1992) has paid tribute to his Kick It Out co-founder Lord Herman Ouseley with a poignant message
Anti-discrimination activist Lord Ouseley passed away on Monday following a ‘short illness’
‘He has achieved greatness by giving back so much to people who has suffered so much prejudice, racism, inequality.
‘He challenged institutional racism and the people in power to use their influence not for self but to impact people’s lives as many were excluded, marginalised and disaffected by unlawful discrimination.
‘I first met Herman in the early 90’s following my transfer from Celtic to Chelsea where l proudly became their first black captain and that of the Premier League when it was formed shortly thereafter.
‘He encouraged and empowered me to speak out about my repugnant, reprehensible experiences of racism in England, Scotland and ltaly during my career.
‘He made me realise the power of my lived experience and how to leverage that in an authentic way to hold people to account and make a positive contribution to enact change.
‘That was formalised when we co-founded Kick It Out with Gordon Taylor, and John Fashanu as the catalyst for change.
‘Herman was in his pomp having taken on the baton of chairman of the Commission of Racial Equality and had a mandate to start to hold football stakeholders and clubs to challenge the issues of racism that many black players of my generation experienced.
‘He called out football with candour, frankness like as if John Wayne entered the bar as gunslinger in a Western movie.
Elliott described his friend and former partner (pictured in 2001) as being a ‘great man in love with justice)
‘But underneath he was super strategic, slick, elegant in delivering but knew how to leverage carrot and stick to make sustainable, impactful changes using his personality.
‘Football was in denial then. Herman was like a tornado, his undoubtedly resilience was his brilliance. I got very close to him over many years and he empowered me and many others over his decades as chair of Kick It Out.
‘He singlehandedly took on football, laid the strong foundations for Kick It Out to be the leading anti-discrimination organisation in the UK.
‘This great man was in love with justice, in love with humanity fairness and equality.
‘It’s ironic that his passing took place on the second day of Black History Month – he will be sadly missed by so many.’