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English football clubs are NOT meeting FA’s diversity targets as only 10% of new hires in senior management positions come from the BAME community… as CEO Mark Bullingham says ‘More needs to be done’
- Football Association has released figures for the second year of the Diversity Code
- It found that stakeholders such as Premier League and EFL were achieving their goals
- But English clubs are not yet diverse enough in their agreements collectively
- There was an increase in BAME coaches, but not senior management
- FA chief Mark Bullingham said there is still ‘a huge amount to be done’
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English football clubs fail to meet diversity targets in the latest set of results for the FA’s Leadership Diversity Code.
While the stakeholders – including the Football Association, Premier League and EFL – have achieved their goals; clubs have had a disappointing run of collective scores in the second year of the Code.
Some clubs, such as Chelsea, have delivered on their promises, but collectively, English football has failed to achieve its goals.
The FA’s historic code was launched in 2020 with a view to increasing BAME representation at the top of the national game.
But clubs have not met their targets in six of the eight categories included in the code.
However, teams have exceeded expectations in terms of new hires for seniors in men’s football.
Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association, said a ‘huge amount’ still needs to be done to meet diversity goals in coaching and leadership roles in the English game
FA figures show there are no BAME appointments to senior management positions, with a low average of just 10.3 per cent in clubs in England
Clubs had set a target that 10 per cent of new senior coach hires in men’s competitions would be BAME – they have registered an impressive 21 per cent in that area.
This is especially important as players who retire are more likely to take up coaching rather than board or managerial positions at clubs.
In contrast, clubs pledged to ensure that 15 percent of new hires in senior management positions would come from the BAME community. They achieved a score of 10.3 percent.
Similarly, clubs were set a target for 30 percent of new hires in senior leadership positions to be women — they only achieved 17.2 percent in that category.
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is the only black manager in the Premier League
Among the women, 33.3 percent of new hires were women – well below the target of 50 percent.
However, sororities go above and beyond by ensuring that at least 15 percent of new coaching hired is BAME.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said clubs need to improve, saying: “This year is showing some signs of progress, with a shift in recruitment processes that will change the game and the three governing bodies exceeding seven of the eight targets.
Darren Moore is currently the manager of League One club Sheffield Wednesday
“While we saw clubs exceed the diversity targets for senior coaches in the men’s game and coaches in the women’s game, there is still a huge amount of work to be done.
“We understand that substantive change will take time, but a number of clubs have already made progress and we expect more clubs to follow in the coming years.”
More ethnically diverse candidates are encouraged to be interviewed for positions – but turning those interviews into job openings is a clear hurdle at the moment.