Leroy Rosenior: 'I Seem to Have a Knack of Getting People to Listen'

Leroy Rosenior, after a career as player and manager, is vice-president and ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card. ‘I wanted to get involved on the ground, by going into schools.’
Photograph: Kevin Quigley/ANL/Shutterstock
Leroy Rosenior, after a career as player and manager, is vice-president and ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card. ‘I wanted to get involved on the ground, by going into schools.’ Photograph: Kevin Quigley/ANL/Shutterstock
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Leroy Rosenior: 'I Seem to Have a Knack of Getting People to Listen'

Leroy Rosenior, after a career as player and manager, is vice-president and ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card. ‘I wanted to get involved on the ground, by going into schools.’
Photograph: Kevin Quigley/ANL/Shutterstock
Leroy Rosenior, after a career as player and manager, is vice-president and ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card. ‘I wanted to get involved on the ground, by going into schools.’ Photograph: Kevin Quigley/ANL/Shutterstock

Leroy Rosenior is probably no longer the most recognized member of his family, with his son Liam making his name as a coach alongside Wayne Rooney at Derby and also on the panel to select the Football Association chairman. But after almost four decades in the public eye that took in spells at Fulham, QPR and West Ham in the 1980s, the former striker, who is remembered for having the shortest managerial reign, at Torquay in 2007, is almost ready to pass on the baton to the next generation.

“I’m always proud of Liam but it’s not just about his coaching – he is a good person,” says Rosenior. “He has always wanted to coach and tells the story about staying up and pretending to be asleep while he was listening to me and Paul Mortimer talking all night about football. Liam gets his message across brilliantly and that is the key.”

That trait appears to run in the family. On Wednesday, Show Racism the Red Card celebrates its 25th anniversary after being established when the Newcastle goalkeeper at the time, Shaka Hislop, made a £50 donation to a local anti-racism campaigner Ged Grebby after being racially abused at a petrol station. Rosenior has been giving workshops on behalf of the charity for 16 years and is vice-president and an ambassador.

“I wanted to get involved on the ground, by going into schools, because that is where my passion was,” says Rosenior, who also works as an assistant producer and pundit for Premier League productions. “I seem to have a knack of getting people to listen and then ask questions afterwards. My dad was a great storyteller – he was the best I have ever known – and I work in television as a broadcaster so have all the skills to get a message across to people.”

The experiences of his father, Willie De Graft Rosenior, who arrived in the UK during the 1950s from Sierra Leone, helped shape Rosenior, but one particular moment changed his career path for ever.

“I always tell the story about Justin Fashanu because he was my idol when I was growing up,” he says. “With him it was a double whammy because not only was he black, but he was also gay. He came to West Ham on loan while I was there and I remember one day him getting in the communal bath and two guys got up and walked out. I knew exactly why they had done that.

“Eight or nine years later, when I heard that Justin had killed himself, I thought back to that moment and realized I could have done something if I was educated or had the knowledge to communicate. Maybe if I had I could have said: ‘Sit down, don’t worry he won’t fancy you’ or something and that could have defused the situation, but I didn’t. That was one of the driving forces in me getting involved in diversity and inclusion and trying to pass on a positive message.”

From schools to trade unions and now also as an ambassador for West Ham’s Foundation having previously worked for Kick it Out, Rosenior estimates he has reached thousands of people with his talks. He feels his message is being heard, but episodes such as last Saturday when some Millwall supporters booed players taking a knee shows there is plenty of work to do.

“It frustrates me because we always have these incidents and afterwards everyone just talks about how important education is. But they don’t know how to put that into practice. How does it work? Where do we need to target? For instance, usually the kids get it much better than the adults.”

Rosenior refuses to blame the color of his skin for a lack of opportunities as a manager and has only fond memories of his two spells at Torquay – even if the second lasted for barely 48 hours rather than the 10 minutes often stated.

“It wasn’t until the Friday, when I was watching Have I Got News For You I was described as having the shortest managerial reign of just 10 minutes, that everyone starting ringing me up to ask if I was all right.

“I was already doing work for the BBC, but that led to me being asked to do the Africa Cup of Nations, which is how I started my new career. So when they say any publicity is good publicity, it definitely worked for me.

“At that point, I made a conscious decision to concentrate on broadcasting and working in anti-racism. When we got promoted with Torquay it was the most incredible achievement, but off the back of that I had one interview for the Brighton job and Mark McGhee got it. I was of the understanding that if I did really well then the opportunities would come. But they didn’t. If there was a young manager who was white and had done what I had done then things might have been different.”

Rosenior, who was held at gunpoint in Mali after being sent off while managing Sierra Leone – “they wouldn’t let me go back to the dressing room” – detailed many of his experiences of racism as a player in his book, It’s only Banter, released in 2017. Since moving into broadcasting, he has also noticed a slow shift in attitudes.

“When I started at the Premier League, the only other black people in the building were the cleaners,” he says. “It is a global brand and there was a moment when they realized that their on-screen presence didn’t represent the people they were reaching. Now I know so many black people who are working here and we have made a lot of progress, although that’s still not the same behind the scenes. I try to drive that as much as I can.”

As for Liam, who is tasked with finding a replacement for Greg Clarke at the FA, Rosenior says: “Hopefully it’s a step in the right direction for Liam to be involved because if you have six white middle-aged men who are choosing the next chairman then you will get a decision based around their experiences. But if you have a more diverse selection of people then you are going to get a much better decision. They have to recognize that it’s good for them and not just tokenism.”

(The Guardian)



Arteta Urges Arsenal to Carry Champions League Momentum into Brentford Clash

Football - Champions League – Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League – Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
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Arteta Urges Arsenal to Carry Champions League Momentum into Brentford Clash

Football - Champions League – Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League – Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the match. (Reuters)

Arsenal are high on energy following Champions League win over Real Madrid and manager Mikel Arteta has urged his side to carry forward the momentum to their Premier League home game against Brentford on Saturday.

Arsenal stunned Champions League holders Real Madrid with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday and Arteta is now keen for the team to turn their attention to the Premier League, where they currently trail league leaders Liverpool by 11 points.

"There's been an unbelievable energy, a special night. That's over. Now full focus on Brentford, it's a game that is going to require the best of us," Arteta told reporters on Friday.

"It's not about bringing them back to earth, it's about maintaining the energy and putting it into Brentford. It's a team that, when you look at what they've done, is an incredible story. A big credit to them."

With a demanding schedule ahead, including Saturday's game against 12th-placed Brentford and the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday, Arteta said he will rotate players according to the schedule rather than the opposition.

"We will look at how the players recovered, because it's not just about the Real Madrid game, it's about the schedule in the next few weeks as well," Arteta said.

"... This is our context - play every three days and play in different competitions on the biggest stages. Playing in Europe then coming back and facing a different challenge in the Premier League.

"If you want to become a team that has the capacity to win in any of those then you have to do it every three days, regardless of the scenario."

Arteta said Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are both fit after coming off with knocks against Real, however, he did not put a timeline for the return of defender Riccardo Calafiori, who injured his knee last month.

The 43-year-old also hinted at an early return for midfielder Kai Havertz, who underwent surgery after a hamstring injury in February.

"The mindset of those two players (Saka and Havertz) is very similar. Great injury history, work ethics, desperate to get back as quickly as possible. A great medical staff to look after them," he said.

"Hopefully we can have him (Havertz), but let's wait. But the last stage of the rehab, it's when you can understand better to make that last step."