QPR technical director Chris Ramsey, the PFA's Simone Pound, and John Nagle of the EFL discuss the work being done to get more black, Asian and minority ethnic coaches into full-time club roles
Tuesday 22 May 2018 10:56, UK
Darren Moore's appointment at West Brom is a step in the right direction but there is still plenty of work to do before BAME coaches have equality of opportunity, explains Ron Walker.
The appointment of Darren Moore as the permanent West Brom manager is an important next step for the representation of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) coaches in British football. But the delay in his confirmation in the job, coupled with Albion's relegation, means that there remain only six BAME individuals who have overseen a Premier League game as a club's permanent boss.
It is a reminder that while Moore's appointment is a significant achievement, it should not detract from the fact that there is much work still to be done on equality. This is a game where more than a third of Premier League players are black but, as detailed in a report from the Sports People's Think Tank, only 22 of the 482 senior coaching roles at professional clubs in England in November were held by people from BAME backgrounds.
A voluntary Rooney Rule for Football League clubs and a subsidy for BAME candidates at the Premier League's elite coaching academy are two of the measures designed to make a difference but, despite the snowball gathering pace, representation remains relatively low.
There are initiatives working behind the scenes, as Kick It Out, the game's leading anti-discrimination charity, is keen to point out. But there is still frustration among BAME figures within the game that Moore's story is the exception, rather than the norm. So how can further change be brought about?
Former QPR boss Chris Ramsey now works with one of the most diverse backroom teams in the EFL. Les Ferdinand is the R's director of football, Ramsey is technical director, while the Sky Bet Championship club's owner Tony Fernandes is one of Malaysia's most successful businessmen.
Meanwhile, in the Premier League, around 35 per cent of British players are from BAME backgrounds. Ramsey is determined to see more coaching teams representative of the players they work with, and believes they must take some responsibility to make it happen.
Speaking at a Kick It Out event, Ramsey told Sky Sports: "It's time to make sure that the players who have benefited from the martyrs who went before get themselves in a situation where they appreciate what has been done, and speak up about the inequalities of BAME - and also gender - in the game. When you have economic value, people tend to listen.
"We've been on the cusp a few times. Events like this bring awareness to the facts, but unless we make some sort of change, I think we're in a situation where things will just stagnate, as they have for the past few decades.
"If you have people in a boardroom who have group-think, where everyone is the same and thinks the same, nothing changes. It's not good for progression or innovation. You need a lot of diversity on the board to get people to think in a different way.
"Les Ferdinand has been able to influence the whole culture at QPR, somewhat - employing the right people for the job - and it's no coincidence that we do have a diverse board. But having said that, most of their managers have been white."
A little short of 15 years ago, in what was meant to be a seminal meeting organised by the PFA and with representatives present from the Football League, Premier League, League Managers' Association and Football League (now EFL), the various parties discussed how BAME inclusion could be increased in the game.
Plenty has changed in that time off the pitch, but little in the dugout. Simone Pound, who helped to organise that meeting in her role of Head of Equalities at the PFA, feels things are moving for the better, but told Sky Sports that pathways still need to be clearer for young coaches.
"That meeting was important and inaugural, in that we were talking about an issue that people as stakeholders needed to hear," she said. "Before, even then, people were saying: 'Maybe black players don't want to be managers?'
"We heard from players who felt disenfranchised, who wondered if it was even worth applying, so trying to install some faith in a system is something we were working really hard on.
Transparency around recruitment is very important. People have to understand the jobs exist, whereas historically you've tended to have a lot of word-of-mouth recruitment, people knowing people.
"I do feel like we're getting somewhere. It's a long journey, and it needs to be increased now. We're running a marathon. This is the last mile, but it's the hardest mile. We need to see some serious change.
"Nowadays we have an increased pool of qualified coaches, but we need to work to make sure that is ever-increasing, and also that there's a pathway for them, so that if you go in at academy level, you can move your way up the system.
"No one wants to be here in nearly 15 years talking about this again, and I have faith that we will not be. Modern-day players keep evolving, and people are not going to put up with things now. People want to see faster change.
"We can't wait for a snowball effect. Things are clicking, but it needs to be tangible. What the EFL have done wouldn't have been dreamt of 10 years ago.
"That's a tangible change. It's a fraction of what needs to happen, but if we can build on that, make it mandatory across the board, it's all of our members who need this transparency - not just black coaches."
One initiative already making a difference is an enforced rule in the EFL that academy coaching roles must be advertised on the league's website, as well as on the platforms of the clubs themselves.
It may appear to be paying lip service to the process of promoting inclusivity, but the proof has been in the pudding for John Nagle, head of policy at the EFL.
He told Sky Sports: "In year one, we analysed the data from 76 jobs advertised on our site, and 11 went to BAME coaches - about 14 per cent. We put that out in the summer as a report to clubs, and it was an encouraging first year.
"Ultimately, it's a good thing for the game. The aim is to get the best coaches in the best jobs, and that's in the interests of English football.
"It's early days. Let's not jump to conclusions, but we're encouraged by what we've seen in the first 18 months, particularly in the regulations that exist in academy football.
"We've seen more than 250 jobs advertised online, and the transparency around the recruitment process is very important. People have to understand the jobs exist, whereas historically you've tended to have a lot of word-of-mouth recruitment, people knowing people.
"The problem with that is with under-representation; you end up with it being self-perpetuating. It's important to have open and transparent recruitment in place, and I think we have started to achieve that."
Another area where representation is being tackled is in coaching development. The Premier League's own coaching academy, known as ECAS (Elite Coach Apprenticeship Scheme), has secured funding to train 24 BAME and women coaches, as well as subsidise their employment at a Premier League club, for four years.
Pound, who heads up the scheme, has been impressed with the difference in attitude from potential applicants in the short time the grant has been available, and has high hopes for the future.
"So far, we have had 14 BAME people come through that scheme," she told Sky Sports. "In the first year, we barely had any applicants and this year, we've had 100.
"If you want more, and better, homegrown players, you need more homegrown coaches. You look at the landscape, and see predominantly white male coaches.
"There must be talent in more areas and we are not giving the best experience to the young players. We are looking for talent, and trying to put them in front of the clubs and say 'we think they are good... if you do, you can employ them and we will help'.
"We have put them in front of the academy managers in quite a forceful way - you can say we believe talent in coaching is everywhere, and as an industry you're only looking here, so we're going to incentivise you to look here."
With gender inequality being addressed by the scheme too, Pound says there is no shortage of strong candidates. "Newcastle employed a female coach from their community through this scheme. She came on the ECAS programme, sailed through it and gave a big speech at the end, and is a brilliant coach. She happens to be a woman, but so what?"
There is plenty going on behind the scenes, across the country, to bring an end to the question of why there are not more BAME coaches in football.
But, as Ramsey - and now Moore - have found, only an open-minded boardroom will take a risk on altering the status quo, and taking advantage of the young, hungry coaches the Premier League are quite literally putting in front of them.
Whether this is the cusp of something bigger remains to be seen. It certainly could be.
