Saturday 10 October 2020 11:51, UK
Chloe Morgan and Rinsola Babajide are special guests on The Women's Football Show this week, where they will discuss the lack of diversity within the home nations.
As part of Black History Month, presenter Jessica Creighton and regular guest Sue Smith will be joined by Morgan and Babajide on the show to discuss data which suggests only two per cent of all home nations players are from a BAME background.
Crystal Palace goalkeeper Morgan, who alongside her playing career is also a diversity and inclusion officer for amateur side Goal Diggers FC, says she is concerned by the lack of diversity at the top end of the women's game.
"When you look around you, you see the make-up of the teams in the WSL and in the Championship and you can see there's a lack of diversity there - that's pretty evident," she told The Women's Football Show.
"It's surprising really in some respects because you do have a lot of clubs, especially London-based clubs where it's such a multicultural city that you'd expect that to be reflected."
Black athletes in the WSL make up an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of players in the league - significantly less than in the men's top tier, where black footballers account for around a third of all players.
Liverpool forward Babajide, who received her first England call-up last month, reiterated the lack of diversity and says she wants to inspire other black women to take part.
"Looking at the WSL and the Championship, there's not many black players in comparison to the white girls," she said.
"Younger girls see that there's not many black people and think they can't make it themselves. I want to be that representation for the younger lot so they know that we either have equal opportunities or whether we have to work harder."
In June, the FA announced the creation of the Football Leadership Diversity Code, led by Paul Elliott, which launched during Black History Month.
The code will see clubs and organisations across the game commit to embedding greater diversity across their senior leadership teams, operations teams and coaching set-ups.
Although former England international Smith believes the FA are attempting to address the issue, the data discussed on the show illustrates there is more work to do within the women's game.
"I think you can always do more and it's not good enough when you look at those statistics, but the FA are reviewing the talent pathway and in that they're going to make sure the pathway is more inclusive," Smith said.
"Of course, there is always room for improvement but the FA have identified that and hopefully that's a big priority on their list."
In response to the data which suggests only two per cent of all home nations players are from a BAME background, the FA are yet to provide an official statement but referred to the talent pathway Smith mentions on the show.
The Welsh FA replied by pointing out how they hired an equality, diversity and integrity manager for the first time this year, with Jason Webber starting in the role in February 2020.
The Scottish and Northern Irish FAs are yet to respond.
