Moment or Movement?
Akin Adams from Conscious Londoner on the call for a Black Professional Football Union
September 2020
This article was first published by Football Shorts
On 17 June the Premier League resumed under Project Restart to intense and eager anticipation. It did so against the backdrop of civil unrest in the United States, which had been ignited by racial injustice and led to public condemnation across the world.
As a show of unity and solidarity, changes were made to every team’s kit, with players’ names replaced by the words Black Lives Matter in a league-wide stand against racism. This was accompanied by all players on the pitch taking a knee before kick-off, in a show of solidarity for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It was a powerful image to show football’s social conscience to the world. However, you do not have to stray far away from the pitch to see the distinct lack of off-field support. Just like the empty stands, the lack of presence of black managers, coaching staff and board members in the game paints an all too familiar picture of empty rhetoric and lack of action. Like the hashtag #BLM, which emerged during Project Restart, this too will fade as the moment passes.
Racism in football, both overt and covert, has been an ever-present scourge across the leagues. From the star-studded, high-salaried Premier League to the semi-professional lower leagues and even further afield in the grass roots of Sunday league – from Hackney Marshes to Manchester’s Hough End. Like many of you, I have been dismayed and deeply frustrated by the lack of impetus for change in the game – both on and off the pitch. The question I ask is: “how can this change into a movement, instead of a moment?”
Many observers would be quick to point to the apparent success in reducing the broader strokes of racism in the game, particularly through slogans and outspoken condemnation from ex-players, managers, and coaches. This, however, has just been lip-service to a deeper, systemic problem, which has become so insidious and normalised that representation on playing fields does not transcend to the coveted positions in football, namely managerial and coaching roles or seats in the FA boardroom.
“A Black Professional Football Union for players, coaches, and managers would be a formidable force in driving through the measurable changes that are too often talked about but not actioned.”
It has been well over a hundred years since the first black professional footballer played in England. Since then, the proportion of black players in professional football has grown to 25-30 per cent. Yet among the 92 clubs in the Premier and Football League, there are just four black first team managers – representing less than 5 per cent of the overall figure. Out of 552 senior coaching staff, just 19 are black – 3.4 per cent of the number of coaches employed.
Those who defend these dire statistics often call out the lack of black talent and the lack of FA core coaching qualifications, but this does not stand up when you look at the number of qualified coaches. Black coaches who have achieved FA coaching badges at levels 1 and 2 make up 8.5 and 9.5 per cent respectively of the total number – a much higher percentage than those in employment.
There is no doubt about the stark contrast between the powerful imagery on the pitch and the muted off-field representation, and this is underscored by independent reports – as from the Sport People’s Think Tank (SPTT) in association with the Fare network and the University of Loughborough – which highlight the under-representation and institutionalised racism within the game.
Vincent Kompany returned to his native Belgium after twelve years in England to take up a top-level coaching role with RSC Anderlecht
A New Movement
Black Professional Football Union
As we have seen with Marcus Rashford’s refusal to be silent in the wake of government plans to stop school meal vouchers during the summer holidays, using your platform and voice can be powerful – even more so if that platform is collectively unionised.
A Black Professional Football Union for players, coaches, and managers would be a formidable force in driving through the measurable changes that are too often talked about but not actioned. An example would be a formal (but not limited) agenda to enforce a fit-for-purpose “Rooney Rule” (a policy originating in the NFL that requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for coaching positions) across all leagues, with full implementation, as opposed to just a trial, to eradicate a number of loop holes which previously impacted its effectiveness.
Among the main loopholes is one that allows clubs not to be judged by the mandatory code because there is no requirement for an open recruitment process. Technically, clubs are not bending any stipulations of the Rooney Rule if they already have a manager in place. If you do not hold an open recruitment process, you are not under pressure by the code. This in itself tells you that the previous implementation of the Rooney Rule was not fit for purpose. Furthermore, the Premier League has no plans to follow the Football League in implementing the Rooney Rule, even in its current watered-down state, for the recruitment of BAME managers.
Implementation of measurable targets
Linked to this union should be a formal agenda to implement fixed measurable targets of black managers and coaches, representative of the UK population. Where the targets are not met, or changes fall short, the union should look at industrial action in the form of sponsorship pressure and even strike action.
Sponsorship pressure
Advertising and sponsorship is a powerful tool in football. The majority of the Premier League’s revenue is generated through broadcasting fees, bringing in roughly £2.84 billion during the 2017-18 season alone. The remainder is generated via commercial and sponsorship deals, bringing in approximately £1.3 billion, and matchday revenues of £670 million.
This is the proverbial stick that players and fans can use to put pressure on clubs to implement improved targets and hold them accountable. As we have seen with the Facebook advertising boycott by large firms, such revenue pressure can greatly assist in effecting radical change.
“Just like the resumption of the Premier League in June, under-representation and cultural discrimination within football needs its own highly publicised ‘Project Restart’”
Networking culture
Neither the Rooney Rule nor the implementation of measurable targets and sponsorship pressure can be an instant universal solution to institutionalised racism in football. We also need to look at other interventions that will support the overall ambition, such as changes to the networking culture within football. The key constraints highlighted in the SPTT call to action draw attention to this:
“The tendency for coach recruitment to be premised on personal preference, patronage and sponsored mobility. This was felt to favour ‘known’ White coaches from within dominant social and cultural ‘insider’ networks in professional football and to gravitate against the employment of BME coaches who remain outside of the consciousness of key power brokers at clubs. This was felt to be evidenced in the frequency with which large numbers of White coaches move between coaching positions at different clubs whilst opportunities for black coaches remain numerically limited.”
More has to be done to be anti-racist within football. We need more ‘whole-system’ thinking and will likely need other interventions that disrupt and penetrate the established networks, which is where coaching careers are made and solidified. At present, equally qualified black people are being denied access to the professional football coaching environment. You cannot identify fair success if black coaches and managers are simply not given the proportionate opportunities to succeed.
Just like the resumption of the Premier League in June, under-representation and cultural discrimination within football needs its own highly publicised Project Restart. Time will tell whether this is just a moment or a movement. The initial momentum, I believe, should be capitalised on by the players – a formalised Black Professional Football Union would be the best place to start.
Words: Akin Adams | Imagery: Biser Todorov; Imago