20-Year Anniversary Highlights
In 2013, Kick It Out celebrated the 20-year anniversary of its inception, launching its inaugural ‘Season of Action’ to mark two decades of campaigning for a game completely free of prejudice, hatred and discrimination.
Below are some of the highlights from the year as the organisation looks forward to the challenges that lie ahead over the next 20 years.
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An interview with Lord Herman Ouseley, Kick It Out's Chair
Lord Herman Ouseley founded Kick It Out in 1993 and remains the Chair of the organisation.
To mark 20 years of groundbreaking work tackling discrimination in football, Lord Ouseley spoke to www.kickitout.org about the launch of the campaign, the early resistance to its formation, the key initiatives which have raised its profile and the challenges which still need to be overcome.
Read the full interview here.
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Microsite
As the first ‘Season of Action’ came to a close in May 2014, the organisation developed a microsite highlighting key landmarks from throughout its history.
The microsite uses a wide variety of online articles, stats, iconic images and video content to display the impact of Kick It Out since the organisation’s inception under its original title, ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’, in 1993.
Charting the evolution of the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ campaign from an eight-point plan of action to a fully-comprehensive organisation tackling all forms of discrimination, the microsite is a must-use resource for anyone interested in the past, present and future of Kick It Out, as well as being a valuable teaching aid for schools and grassroots clubs alike.
Read more about Kick It Out’s 20th Anniversary Microsite here.
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'Next 20' Ambassadors
Kick It Out’s ‘Next 20’ initiative, which launched in October 2013, sees 20 young football stars from across the Premier League, Football League and Women’s Super League (WSL) spreading key messages of equality and inclusion.
The ‘Next 20’ formed part of Kick It Out’s 20-year anniversary celebrations and has given the ambassadors the opportunity to raise awareness of the organisation by engaging with the younger members of their local community. The initiative continues to this day with the ‘Next 20’ ambassadors supporting Kick It Out’s work at events throughout the season.
Find out which players are part of the ‘Next 20’ team and read about the initiative here.
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Lord Ouseley's 20-year Anniversary Dinner programme notes
Lord Herman Ouseley, Chair and founder of Kick It Out, wrote an analysis of discrimination and exclusion in football in England which featured in the programme for Kick It Out’s 20 year anniversary dinner on Tuesday 20 May 2014.
Lord Ouseley focuses on the need for leadership and responsibility from the key decision-makers in football, and looks at the continued presence of discrimination in the game.
You can read the extensive analysis in full here.
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Transformation of the Kick It Out logo
The original Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football logo was designed by Louis Mackay. As Kick It Out marked its 20-year anniversary by changing its official branding to reflect its commitment to tackling all forms of discrimination, Louis spoke to www.kickitout.org about the history of the original logo, the colour scheme and the design ideas behind it.
Read more about the full interview with Louis Mackay here.
The brand new logo was launched on 17 July 2014. The iconic ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ branding – which had become globally recognised since the organisation’s inception in 1993 – was replaced with the slogan ‘Kick It Out – Tackling Racism & Discrimination’.
The decision to make the shift came as Kick It Out sought to make its logo more reflective of the breadth of its work across football. The organisation was initially launched to combat racism throughout the game before broadening its remit to tackle all forms of discrimination when Kick It Out was formally constituted in 1997.
Read more about the new logo and have the chance to download it here.