An Powerful Event as Liam Rosenior Overcomes Obstacles

"Rosenior represents a quality manager who knows football back to front, and that's the most important thing.

"However, as the Blues' first black player, it would be dishonest if I said this moment fails to move me."

These were the words expressed by Paul Canoville, the man who earned his groundbreaking debut for the Blues' first team off the bench in the spring of 1982.

This week, the club appointed RC Strasbourg manager Rosenior, 41, to be their next head coach following the departure of Enzo Maresca.

The French club is within the multi-club BlueCo which also controls the London club.

Statistics show a mere twelve of African or Caribbean heritage head coaches – excluding those holding interim positions – in the Premier League since its inception thirty-four years ago.

"What really strikes me about Liam is that he was raised and developed his game not far from here, he knows this area," added Canoville.

"Whenever kids observe a figure like Rosenior managing their club, someone who looks like them, who's from their ends, who comes from a family that fights for equality… it is powerful and shows them the path is there.

"So yes, it is an enormous step for the club, for London, for all young person dreaming big.

"But right now? We must support Rosenior, provide him with the necessary tools, and allow him to get on with the job."

What Exactly Does the Numbers Reveal?

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit became Chelsea head coach back in the nineties and became the top flight's first black manager.

Twelve years later, in 2008, Paul Ince was appointed as the pioneering black English boss in the top flight when he took over Blackburn Rovers.

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is the sole additional present top flight boss of colour.

The shortage of managers of colour across English football is matched by an absence of diversity in the boardroom.

According to the Black Footballers Partnership 2023 report, forty-three percent of top-flight footballers are from black backgrounds.

Yet, analysis from Kick It Out found just 3.2% of board and senior leadership positions at most Premier League clubs are from minority ethnic communities.

Regarding senior coaching positions, based on data provided by eleven clubs, the percentage stands at two percent.

Across all coaching positions – encompassing head coaches – from the same 11 clubs, the figure is 5%.

"He has undoubtedly broken barriers in terms of him being announced as Chelsea manager, and as an organization, we want to witness more such appointments," stated Kick It Out CEO Samuel Okafor.

"It is acknowledged that there exists loads of ability that exists within ethnic minority groups... they desire a chance to demonstrate what they can do. We need to continue to work hard to dismantle those obstacles once and for all."

Additionally, Rosenior will become the fourth full-time British managers currently in the Premier League – alongside Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – a number that trails Europe's other big five divisions in terms of homegrown representation.

16 out of twenty top-flight coaches in Italy are Italian, Eleven in La Liga are Spanish, Twelve in the Bundesliga in Germany and Ten in Ligue 1 in France.

Current Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane said: "I'm sure every aspiring British coaches from an academy background are, to some degree regardless of allegiance, rooting for Liam.

"It is truly motivating to young English academy coaches to witness an individual get that job with that profile and we hope he does really well."

It is vital to remember – he's there due to ability'

His father, Leroy, Rosenior Sr., played for the likes of Fulham, West Ham and Queens Park Rangers, with his coaching stint peaked with a brief stint in charge of the third-tier club Brentford in 2006.

In 2019, he received an MBE in that year's Honours List for services rendered to tackling discrimination within the sport and beyond.

After Liam hung up his boots he pursued his father's footsteps. He started penning a column for a national newspaper, and in one piece he addressed the lack of diversity among managers. He pointed out that race does not influence ability arguing that roles should be given based on qualification.

He also made a point he would repeat: how significant under-representation leads to a failure to understand regarding footballers with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

During an interview for a football podcast, Rosenior highlighted the way his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, had been described as "hard to manage" or "passionate", but said he understood the Dutch international of Nigerian descent. The striker is expected to follow him in moving from Strasbourg to West London in July.

In further Guardian columns, he also confessed to being "ashamed" to hear an unnamed coach make a homophobic slur. He pledged support for the inclusion initiative and authored an open letter to the former US President during his first US presidency, condemning his "overt" racism.

Rosenior has since made his name as a manager – first at Hull City, later at Strasbourg – with Wayne Rooney said this week Rosenior was "as good a coach as I've ever worked with" after their collaboration with Derby.

The manager bid his farewells to his former club earlier this week prior to putting pen to paper on a long-term contract with the Blues.

Chelsea had the Premier League's first African heritage manager in Gullit and the first black captain in Paul Elliott.

Elliott has since worked in multiple executive roles, among them the FA's diversity and inclusion board|