An Powerful Moment when Rosenior Overcomes Barriers

"Liam Rosenior is a quality manager that understands the game back to front, and that's the crucial factor.

"However, in my role as the Blues' first black player, I would be lying to claim this news doesn't move me."

Those are the words of the former Chelsea winger, the man who earned his groundbreaking first appearance for the Blues' first team as a substitute back in April 1982.

This week, the club hired Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior, 41, as their new head coach following the departure of Enzo Maresca.

Strasbourg are within a multi-club BlueCo that also owns Chelsea.

Statistics show a mere twelve black managers – not including those holding temporary caretaker positions – in England's top flight since its inception thirty-four in the past.

"What really strikes me regarding Rosenior is that he grew up and played locally, he understands this area," added Canoville.

"When youngsters observe a figure like Rosenior in charge of the team they support, a person who looks like them, who's from their ends, from a household that champions equality… that's powerful and shows them that opportunities exist.

"So yes, it is a huge moment for Chelsea, for the capital, for all young person with big dreams.

"However, currently? We must support Rosenior, give him what he needs, and let the man get on with the job."

What Do the Data Reveal?

The iconic Dutchman Ruud Gullit was appointed Chelsea head coach back in the nineties thereby becoming the top flight's inaugural black head coach.

A dozen years on, by 2008, Paul Ince was appointed as the first black English boss in the Premier League when he took over Blackburn Rovers.

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is the sole additional current Premier League boss of colour.

The shortage of managers of colour across the English game corresponds with an absence of diversity at executive level.

According to the BFP 2023 study, forty-three percent of top-flight footballers come from African or Caribbean heritage.

Yet, analysis by the equality organization revealed only 3.2 percent of board and senior leadership management teams across most Premier League clubs are from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Regarding first-team coaching positions, based on data from eleven clubs, the percentage stands at two percent.

For all coaching roles – including head coaches – from the same eleven clubs, the figure is just 5%.

"He has undoubtedly made history by virtue of his appointment as the Chelsea head coach, and we want to witness more such appointments," said Kick It Out CEO Samuel Okafor.

"We know there is a wealth of talent present in the black and underrepresented groups... they desire a chance to demonstrate their capabilities. It is imperative to continue to work hard to break those barriers once and for all."

Additionally, the new appointee will become the fourth permanent English managers currently in the Premier League – alongside Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe and Scott Parker – a number that trails Europe's remaining big five leagues in terms of homegrown managers.

Sixteen out of twenty first division coaches in Italy are from Italy, Eleven in La Liga in Spain, 12 in the Bundesliga are German and Ten in Ligue 1 in France.

Current Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane said: "I'm sure all young English coaches with a youth development pedigree will be, in some way no matter who you support, rooting for Liam.

"It's really motivating to young English academy coaches to see an individual land that job with his background and everyone hopes he will be really well."

'Let's not forget – he's there on merit'

Leroy Rosenior, Rosenior Sr., played for clubs such as West London clubs, West Ham as well as Queens Park Rangers, and his managerial career culminating in a five-month stint in charge of then-League One side Brentford back in 2006.

Two years ago, he was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in that year's 2019 New Year Honours for his services to tackling discrimination in football and beyond.

After Liam retired from playing he pursued his father's footsteps. He began penning a column for The Guardian, and in one piece he addressed the lack of diversity among managers. He highlighted that race does not determine ability arguing that roles should be given based on qualification.

He also made the view he would repeat: that vast under-representation leads to a failure to understand regarding footballers from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

In a podcast for a football podcast, Rosenior highlighted the way his leading forward, Emmanuel Emegha, had been described as "difficult" and "passionate", noting that he could relate to the Dutch international of Nigerian descent. Emegha is set to join him in moving from Strasbourg to Chelsea this summer.

In subsequent newspaper articles, he also confessed he was "embarrassed" to hear a coach make a homophobic slur. He pledged support for the Premier League's inclusion campaign and wrote an open letter to Donald Trump while he was in office, condemning his "overt" prejudice.

He has subsequently made his name as a manager – initially with Hull City, later at Strasbourg – and Wayne Rooney recently stating Rosenior was "as good a coach as I've ever worked with" following their collaboration with Derby.

Rosenior said his farewells at Strasbourg on Tuesday morning before signing a long-term contract at Chelsea.

The Blues had the Premier League's first African heritage boss with Gullit as well as the first black skipper named Paul Elliott.

Elliott later held several executive roles, among them the FA's equality board|