A Emotional Moment as Rosenior Breaks Obstacles

"Liam Rosenior is a top coach who understands the game intimately, and that's the most important thing.

"However, in my role as Chelsea's first black footballer, I would be lying to claim this moment does not affect me."

Those are the sentiments of Paul Canoville, who made his historic first appearance for the Blues' first team as a substitute back in the spring of 1982.

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

The French club is part of a Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital-owned BlueCo that also controls the London club.

There have been just 12 black head coaches – excluding individuals in temporary caretaker roles – in England's top flight since its inception 34 years ago.

"One thing that impresses me about Liam is that he grew up and developed his game locally, he understands this area," added Canoville.

"Whenever kids see a figure like Rosenior in charge of the team they support, someone they can identify with, who's from their ends, from a family that champions equality… that's powerful and shows them that opportunities exist.

"Indeed, it is a huge moment for the club, for the capital, for all young person dreaming big.

"But right now? We must support Rosenior, provide him with the necessary tools, and allow him to do his work."

What Exactly Does the Data Reveal?

The iconic Dutchman Ruud Gullit became Chelsea manager in 1996 and became the top flight's inaugural African heritage manager.

A dozen years on, by 2008, Paul Ince became the first English black manager in the Premier League after taking charge at Blackburn Rovers.

The Hammers' manager Nuno Espirito Santo currently stands as the only other current top flight boss from a minority ethnic background.

The lack of managers of colour across the English game corresponds with a lack of diversity in the boardroom.

According to a Black Footballers Partnership 2023 report, 43% of top-flight footballers are from black backgrounds.

Yet, research from Kick It Out revealed only 3.2% of executive and leadership management teams across 17 of 20 Premier League clubs are from ethnically diverse communities.

At senior coaching level, according to data from eleven clubs, the percentage is 2%.

For all coaching positions – including head coaches – from those same 11 clubs, the figure is five percent.

"He's certainly made history in terms of his appointment as a the Chelsea head coach, and as an organization, we hope to see more of that," said Kick It Out CEO Samuel Okafor.

"We know that there exists a wealth of talent that exists in the ethnic minority groups... they want a chance to show what they can do. We need to persist in work hard to break those barriers down."

Furthermore, Rosenior will become the fourth full-time English managers presently managing in the top flight – alongside Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe and Scott Parker – which lags behind the continent's remaining big five leagues in terms of national representation.

16 out of twenty top-flight coaches in Italy are from Italy, 11 of the 20 are Spanish, Twelve of the 18 are German and Ten in Ligue 1 are French.

Current Blues caretaker manager Calum McFarlane said: "I have no doubt all young English managers with a youth development pedigree will be, in some way no matter who you support, rooting for Liam.

"It's truly motivating to young English coaches in the system to witness an individual get such a role with that profile and everyone hopes he does highly successful."

'Let's not forget – his appointment is on merit'

His father, Leroy, Liam's father, played for the likes of West London clubs, West Ham as well as Queens Park Rangers, and his coaching stint peaked with a brief stint in charge of then-League One side Brentford FC back in 2006.

In 2019, he received an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for his services to tackling inequality in football and wider society.

After Liam retired from playing he pursued a path in management. He started penning articles for The Guardian, and in one piece he addressed the lack of diversity of black coaches. He highlighted that ethnicity does not influence ability arguing that opportunities must be awarded on merit.

He also made a point he would repeat: that significant under-representation leads to misunderstandings of players from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

During an interview for a football podcast, Rosenior highlighted how his leading forward, Emmanuel Emegha, was labelled "difficult" or "emotional", but said he understood the Dutch international with Nigerian parentage. Emegha is set to follow him in moving from France to Chelsea in July.

In further Guardian columns, he also confessed to being "embarrassed" upon hearing an unnamed staff member utter a homophobic slur. He vowed support for the inclusion initiative and authored a public message to the former US President during his first US presidency, accusing him of "overt" racism.

He has subsequently built his reputation in the dugout – initially with Hull City, then Strasbourg – with Wayne Rooney recently stating he was "as good a coach as I've ever worked with" after their time together at Derby County.

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

The Blues had the top flight's first black boss with Gullit as well as the first black captain in Paul Elliott.

Elliott has since worked in multiple senior positions, including the Football Association's diversity and inclusion board|