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Are you a football fan, SG, just out of interest.
I think I mentioned above, regarding transfer policies:
Most obviously, while the FA is directly responsible for the England team and travelling support's behaviour, as the Spanish FA is for its team and its team's supporters, the FA is not responsible for dictating the transfer policies or team sheets of Premiership clubs. These are generally handled by the managers of the individual clubs, although in some cases transfers are largely the responsiblity of a Director of Football, and actual contract negotiations are generally handled by the Board.
In much the same way, the FA does not appoint managers of Premiership or Football League clubs, so again it has limited relevance to the failure of the Spanish FA to censure Aragones or to control their fans at the Bernabeu. Aragones has already accused the British in general of being racist, but that hardly alters the fact that the behavour in the Bernabeu was exceptional and exceptionable. There are problems in English football, and I don't think anyone is denying that - see the entire thread so far. These include racist chanting at Leicester teams, and also individuals chanting racist abouse at players. On the plus side, these are being reported and the guilty parties banned from the game. Better that than it be ignored...
Incidentally, the first black player to play in England was Arthur Wharton in the 1880s, at a time when Scotland were capping their first black player. However, the traditional creation myth has the real floruit of black British players begin with Laurie Cunnigham, Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham at West Brom - the first time three Black British players appeared in the same XI.
Now, quick bit of maths. That was 25 years or so ago. Football managers in Britain have traditionally almost exclusively been former professional footballers. You play, you retire, you take coaching courses, you become a manager. So, why were there so few Black British managers ten years ago? One factor was the very small number of black British ex-pros. Another one was almost certainly racism on the part of club chairmen. This is still a problem - David Sullivan recently proved that he is out of touch with modern business practices - but to say it would be very hard for black people to break into ignores Keith Alexander, Keith Curle, Carlton Plamer, John Barnes - all of whom are managing or have recently managed clubs - and black British ex-pros operating at a high level, such as Chris Hughton at Arsenal. Jean Tigana is non-white, IIRC, also. They *have* broken into management - which does not mean that there is not a definite need for attitudes to change and to keep changing in English football. There should, statistically, be more black managers. I suspect that the passing of the old guard of chairmen will help this, as will increasing numbers of highly successful and respected black ex-pros (which we are getting - the black British footballers looking for entry-level management jobs now were starting their careers in the mid-late 80s, when the number of black players at the top level was a fair chunk lower than nowadays - Everton had yet to sign a black player, which for a team that has relied so heavily on Joseph Yobo and before him Kevin Campbell to haul their arses out of the fire seems remarkable) who will be attractive, crowd-pleasing appointments at the lower levels.
As for impossible for British Asians.... well, yes. Because managers in Britain are almost all former professional footballers. As such, since there are currently no British Asian professional footballers in their mid to late 30s who have hung up their boots and taken UEFA coaching qualifications, it is indeed impossible for a large number of British Asian ex-professional footballers to become managers. Because they don't really exist. Having said which, Reading's 1950s goal machine Sammy Chung managed Doncaster Rovers from 94 to 96, which just goes to show you never can tell.
Racism and the legacy of racism is a huge problem that football has to overcome. There should be more black ex-pros being given chances to manage, and there have been high-profile cases, most obviously Paul Davies at Arsenal, where black British coaches claim to have hit a glass ceiling. Dealing with these issues is going to take time and commitment, but the first step is probably identifying where exactly the problems lie and what to do about them. Hitting the Premiership over the head right now for not having any British Asian managers is not productive. Working to get more young British Asian triallists, and ensuring that they will get a chance in the first team - that is a worthwhile project. |
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