Chris Ramsey is currently QPR's technical director.GETTY IMAGES
The results of the first two seasons of the English Football League's version of the Rooney Rule are "encouraging" but, while there is "praise for the progress" that has been made in appointing 16 coaches from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, the "wider picture in football is distorted," according to Jeremy Wilson of the London TELEGRAPH. The EFL has proactively attempted to address this since June '16 with new regulations, inspired by the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which require academies to advertise positions and to "include at least one suitably qualified BAME candidate on the interview shortlist before then appointing on merit." Of the 200 jobs advertised, the EFL has been provided data on 122, of which 27% of BAME candidates were interviewed and appointed in 13% of the positions. There are seven BAME managers and, although that represents an increase on recent years, the figure is "still significantly below both the wider population percentage" and the 30% of professional players from BAME backgrounds. Chris Ramsey became the first black manager of a men's national team when he managed England's U20 side and is now League Championship club Queens Park Rangers' technical director. Ramsey said, "It forces people to at least look at themselves, their policies, how things have gone on in the past and realize that there needs to be a wider vision of how we make things more inclusive. I think things are improving but I don't think we are anywhere near the mark" (TELEGRAPH, 10/16).
