At least one candidate from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background will be interviewed for future roles within the England set-up, the Football Association has announced.
Chief executive Martin Glenn revealed the FA will adopt its own version of the ‘Rooney Rule’ as the governing body confirmed its plans for the forthcoming year.
Glenn confirmed the rule will “absolutely” be implemented whenever the FA come to choose Gareth Southgate’s successor as manager of the men’s team.
Well done the FA. Rooney Rule is just good sense. Look at the balance of people playing and following the game. This is an anomaly. It needs correcting.
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) January 9, 2018
The announcement comes after a six-month period in which the FA has stumbled into crisis after crisis after the allegations of discrimination levied against the body by England womens’ star Eni Aluko. Glenn, FA chairman Greg Clarke, and the entire association were lambasted for their handling of Aluko’s claims, and the duo gave shambolic testimony at a government hearing over the affair.
Many observers have bemoaned the lack of opportunities for BAME coaches in England, with former Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell among the notable figures to have raised the issue.
Currently, there are only BAME coaches across the 92 football league clubs in England, with Brighton and Hove Albion’s Chris Hughton the only one in the Premier League. The lack of diversity comes even as the collective of club owners has taken on a more global look, with England now seeing owners from Thailand, China, the UAE, and India, among others, alongside the traditional group of Englishmen and Americans.
The Rooney Rule is named after Dan Rooney, former owner of American football (NFL) team the Pittsburgh Steelers. In accordance with the rule, which came into effect in 2003, NFL teams must interview one minority candidate for any head coaching or senior football operations role for which there is a vacancy.
At the moment, the Premier League has no plans of instituting such a rule, but Glenn is hopeful that the FA’s decision to implement it for England openings will ultimately trickle down to the country’s top football league.
“We are there to set an example,” the embattled Glenn said. “I think in talking to people at the Premier League and at the FA, I don’t see any resistance to it, and to be fair the EFL has a Rooney rule in place.”
with the Rooney Rule coming into effect it’s worth remembering that Frank Rijkaard made Barcelona the best team in the world and yet never got another top-level coaching opportunity after leaving in 2008. meanwhile Alan Pardew has managed 5 different Premier League clubs. pic.twitter.com/Gb990RvP9r
— Muhammad Butt (@muhammadbutt) January 9, 2018
The English Football League started to use a Rooney rule last year, but then it was only for openings at clubs’ academies. Since then, the EFL has extended the rule to all managerial openings at the 72 clubs under its banner.
