Diverse views

- Gavin Willacy

It is 15 years since WSC ran a piece I did with Chris Ramsey about the lack of opportunities for black managers in Britain. Ramsey had sought employment in South Carolina but returned to the UK a year later to work in Tottenham’s academy. He has since managed Spurs Under-21s and, for nine months, QPR. Yet even now, as technical director at Loftus Road, Ramsey – and Rangers’ director of football Les Ferdinand – remain rare non-white faces in managerial roles in our top four divisions.

Introducing the Rooney Rule, the NFL policy which requires clubs to interview at least one ethnic minority candidate for each head coach or senior football operation vacancy, in the Premier League or Football League would ensure more black coaches get interviewed for leading positions. But there are unlikely to be many actual appointments given the still relatively small number of BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) coaches working close to the surface.