Football Black List names award after Ugo Ehiogu in tribute to the late Boro star

Ugo Ehiogu's contribution to the game as an excellent role model'' will be acknowledged at the Football Black List celebration evening in London on Wednesday.

The former Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and England defender died in April after suffering a heart attack at Tottenham's training centre, where he was the club's Under-23 coach.

Only 44, Ehiogu's death was a huge shock to his many friends in football and came only a few weeks after he was given a One to Watch prize at the last Football Black List event in March

As a tribute, the One to Watch category will now be named after him and his family will be present at the celebration to hand out awards.

In a statement, Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore said: Ugo made a significant contribution to the Premier League.

He was as an outstanding footballer for Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and other clubs and more recently a highly regarded academy coach at Tottenham Hotspur.

In Ugo, the young players at Spurs had an excellent role model. While he is best known for his stellar football career, Ugo was a great person who used his profile to support charities and inspire positive change in the sport and beyond.''

Set up in 2009 and supported by the Premier League, the Football Black List honours the contributions of people from African and Caribbean backgrounds, a group still under-represented away from the pitch.

While more than one in four professional players in the UK are black, there are just four black managers across England's 92 clubs, none in Scotland and no chairmen nor chief executives.

Campaigner and journalist Leon Mann, co-founder of the Football Black List, told Press Association Sport: Ugo is sorely missed by so many and we felt it was appropriate to name an award category after him to ensure he remains with us at every Football Black List celebration.

We all want to see more diversity across all areas of the game - to be more representative of society and the game we all love. The Football Black List can play a role in helping the industry achieve this.''

The award categories include administration, coaching and management, and media, and Bournemouth's Jermain Defoe, Arsenal star Alex Scott and Rochdale's Joe Thompson are among the players being recognised on Wednesday.