Wes Morgan, the former Premier League title-winning captain, has joined the board of Kick It Out in the most radical shake-up to the anti-discrimination organisation in its 30-year existence.
The aim of appointing Morgan, along with three other trustees with specialist expertise, is to make Kick It Out more independent from the footballing authorities, commercially better resourced and make English dugouts and boardrooms more diverse and reflective of dressing rooms.
Morgan was unanimously nominated by the FA, Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to become their sole representative on Kick It Out’s board. Morgan is joined by Dan Jones, a former partner at Deloitte; Sarah Batters, a commercial development consultant who advises brands, Premier League clubs and the women’s game; and Di Mayze, global head of data and AI at WPP. They replace Kat Allen (Premier League), John Nagle (EFL), James MacDougall (the FA) and Simone Pound (PFA).
“Being a man of colour I see it as very important to highlight the issues and try and make change,” Morgan, 39, says of his appointment. He thinks back to Leicester City’s 2016 triumph over 5,000-1 odds to win the Premier League with a tight-knit group of individuals drawn from different nations, ethnicities and faiths. “The type of dressing room we had, everyone felt welcome, we did everything together and that’s one of the reasons for our success in my time at Leicester.”
Morgan set the tone of embracing all, echoing the ethos set by Leicester’s late owner, the Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. It was about inclusivity. “It’s always been me to make individuals feel welcome, never look at or judge them in a way because of where they come from or their backgrounds,” he says. “That’s just the whole policy of Leicester City anyway. We used to do lots of things together, even if it’s just going for a meal, having banter, the owner would treat us, take us places and everyone would have a great time. You don’t have to be a drinker to feel a part of the team. That’s the culture we built.”
Part of the Leicester culture was also reflected in the sight of Thai monks at the club. “We see them quite regularly,” Morgan says. “I know some of them on first-name basis. Everyone buys into the culture. We know that’s what the owners want and that’s what they believe in. At the same time there’s that respect — if you have a different culture or religion and you don’t feel a part of that you can step aside, that’s not a problem.”
Morgan has long prepared for this march along football’s corridors of power. He is a qualified sporting director after completing a Masters. Having left Notts County at 15, he studied business at college before Nottingham Forest took him on. “Football wasn’t guaranteed for me until late. I’ve not been in that academy system, being made out that ‘you’re going to make it’. I’ve always thought to myself I need to have something backing me up. I’ve always loved that business side.
“Once I finished football [in 2021] I knew I was going to get into an area like that [business] but at the same time my passion is football. If I can do both somehow, working in the senior management executive areas of a football club or football organisation, that’s where I’ll try to get to.
“I’m under no illusion how difficult it might be and how things look at the moment but I’m confident that I’ll eventually get into those positions. I’ve done a lot of work since I’ve retired and there’s a pilot programme with the Premier League, a player executive pathway scheme, and hopefully that will roll out and increase the chances of individuals getting into those areas.”
He sees the blocked pathway from dressing room to dugout as well as boardroom. Black footballers make up 43 per cent of Premier League teams and 34 per cent of EFL sides yet less than five per cent of coaching staff are black. Vincent Kompany is the only black manager in the Premier League. In the EFL, the only black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) managers are Dino Maamria (Burton Albion), Liam Rosenior (Hull City), Valérien Ismaël (Watford), Darren Moore (Huddersfield Town) and Kevin Betsy (joint-caretaker at Cambridge United).
“The numbers are really low in terms of black managers,” Morgan says. “The numbers don’t make good reading. There’s a lot of talk. But we need more action.”
Morgan’s drive and experience immediately appealed to Kick It Out’s chairman, Sanjay Bhandari, as he sought to transform the organisation after being appointed in 2019. “Wes was one of the first names that we alighted on,” Bhandari says. “I met him and his insights were really thoughtful. Wes says he didn’t necessarily want to be in the dugout at Leicester City. If Wes ends up on a board somewhere else or a director of football and he’s another Les Ferdinand [QPR’s highly regarded former director of football], choosing those next coaches, that’s even better. Forty per cent of players are black or dual heritage but it’s not translating into coaching — four or five per cent. That’s a huge well of untapped talent. That needs to be unlocked.”
The latest FA report on the Football Leadership Diversity Code highlighted the problem, with only 7.4 per cent of senior leadership roles at clubs filled by those of black, Asian or mixed heritage. “Change is going to happen by having icons like Wes or Les or others being in boardrooms making decisions,” Bhandari says. “At the FA you’ve got people like Jobi McAnuff, who’s on the main board.”
Bhandari believes the FA will one day appoint a black England manager. “I suspect we will see that in my lifetime and I’m 55. It will only happen because we’ve taken steps collectively across football to improve that pipeline. I see a will but now we need to turn that will and intent into meaningful action.”
That’s why Bhandari wants to strengthen Kick It Out’s campaigning. “We want to be much more independent, much more independently commercially funded,” Bhandari says. “We can hold football to account.” He hears the anger about glass ceilings for black coaches voiced by former England internationals of the stature of Sol Campbell and John Barnes.
“I understand the frustration of Sol Campbell and John Barnes. Successful former players are the iconic emblems of that struggle. I understand the frustrations of people who want to join a boardroom. I understand the frustrations of young South Asian kids who want to be getting into an academy and anyone from an under-represented or minority community who feels they’re not being given a fair crack.”
At the FA, McAnuff brings some welcome football expertise to the boardroom. “Football organisations here are missing a trick,” Morgan says. “They need more players with that football experience stepping into the business side or the football operations side. It’s different in Europe. A lot of European teams make it an easier pathway into senior management for players because they see what an asset they can be for them. English football it isn’t quite like that. Times hopefully will eventually change.”
It’s not simply about diversity. It’s also, generally, about bringing more footballing expertise to the higher levels of the game. “Mark Noble, for example, stepping into the director of football position,” Morgan says. “West Ham trusted that what Mark’s done on the pitch can carry him well into the boardroom. Hopefully Mark does a great job and other clubs see that and give more opportunity in those areas to players that showed the right business acumen, are the right characters.”
Morgan makes a strong representative for Kick It Out. He is forthright, following the lead of Raheem Sterling in criticising some of the depictions of black players in the media. Morgan noted recent headlines about Marcus Rashford’s car and Jude Bellingham’s designer washbag. “Is the same treatment given to other players who like to spend their money and enjoy life? Why is it that Rashford is highlighted? The media should be fair. If you go through all the examples, pictures of all players that have expensive bags, and I know loads, and they’re not black, and I don’t see them in the paper being depicted in a negative way.”
Morgan also wants more responsibility to be taken by social media companies. “In my early days, there wasn’t that social media presence where people can directly get to you. The current player is under ten times more pressure than I was. That’s the way of the world. It’s worrying the amount of abuse that players get. [Bukayo] Saka, for example, getting abuse for missing a penalty [for England in the Euro 2020 final] . . . it’s unacceptable. Social media companies need to do more to identify and make people accountable for their actions.”
Morgan was talking before Leicester’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship on Wednesday night. Leicester, who top the table, had 68 per cent possession, reflecting their style under the manager Enzo Maresca, but were denied all the points by Jeff Hendrick’s equaliser in the third minute of added time at the end of the match.
“Enzo’s doing great,” Morgan says. “I’ve been at the majority of their home games. My interaction with Enzo has been good. He seems like a great guy, the boys have been positive about him and he’s doing a great job so far. They have an identity, their way of playing and they won’t change for anything. The players have bought into that and it’s worked. I watch games now and I’ve seen [opposing] teams already having low blocks, on the back foot, and just trying to soak up the pressure and trying to nick something on a counter, on a corner, set piece. Leicester have got through them too easily, create chances and score.”
Morgan occasionally thinks back to Leicester’s glory of 2016. “I’ve got too much going on to think about it every day! But I do get reminded often, which is great. I always can talk about it. Great memories. I can’t believe it’s seven years now already, going into eight. I look forward to the ten-year reunion.”
Still living in Nottingham, Morgan keeps an eye on his old club, Forest. “I’ve been to a few Forest games, spoke to [head coach] Steve Cooper, greatest guy ever, done a great job for Forest getting them out of the Championship, from the position they were in, into the Premier League and survive that first season, this season and hopefully push on a little bit. Forest have got a great squad, got owners that will back the team and invest which is great. Forest are in a good position, they just need to stay consistent, hopefully the main players stay fit and they can progress this season.”
Morgan’s role at Kick It Out is part-time but he will be kept busy given the myriad issues facing the game, as noted by Bhandari: “I don’t hear mass racist chanting but I do hear mass homophobic chanting, we sometimes hear antisemitic chanting. We need to be changing the culture of the game so fans think, ‘actually it’s time for us to retire that chant’.
“You have to be optimistic that change is possible. Nobody is going to follow a pessimist. No one is going to follow Eeyore into battle. They will only follow Tigger. What gives me cause for optimism? I’ve seen enormous change in football.” And helped at Kick It Out by Morgan, Bhandari wants to see more.
