A Emotional Occasion as Liam Rosenior Overcomes Obstacles

"Liam Rosenior is an excellent manager that knows football intimately, and that's what matters most.

"However, as the Blues' first African heritage player, I would be lying to claim this appointment fails to move me."

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

This week, Chelsea hired RC Strasbourg boss Rosenior, 41, as their new manager following the departure of Enzo Maresca.

Strasbourg are part of a multi-club BlueCo that also controls the London club.

Statistics show a mere 12 of African or Caribbean heritage head coaches – not including individuals holding temporary caretaker positions – in England's top flight since it began thirty-four in the past.

"What really strikes me regarding Rosenior is that he grew up and played not far from here, he knows this community," continued Canoville.

"Whenever children observe someone like Liam in charge of the team they support, a person who looks like them, from a similar background, from a household that champions what's right… that's profound and shows them the path is there.

"Indeed, it is a huge step for Chelsea, for the capital, for every aspiring individual 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 Does the Data Show?

The iconic Dutchman Ruud Gullit became the Blues' manager back in the nineties thereby becoming the top flight's first black head coach.

A dozen years on, by 2008, Paul Ince became the first English black boss in the top flight after taking charge at Blackburn Rovers.

The Hammers' manager Nuno Espirito Santo is the only other present Premier League gaffer of colour.

The scarcity of managers of colour across the English game is matched by an absence of representation at executive level.

As per a Black Footballers Partnership 2023 study, 43% of Premier League players come from black heritage.

However, research from Kick It Out found just 3.2 percent of executive and leadership positions across 17 of 20 Premier League clubs are held by people from ethnically diverse communities.

At senior coaching level, based on figures from 11 clubs, the figure is 2%.

For all coaching roles – encompassing senior roles – from the same 11 clubs, the figure is just five percent.

"He has undoubtedly broken barriers in terms of his appointment as a the Chelsea manager, and we want to witness more such appointments," said the chief executive of Kick It Out Samuel Okafor.

"It is acknowledged that there exists a wealth of ability that exists within ethnic minority communities... aspiring coaches desire a chance to demonstrate what they can do. We need to continue to striving to dismantle those obstacles once and for all."

Additionally, Rosenior is set to become one of only four full-time British managers presently managing in the top flight – joining Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – which trails Europe's remaining big five leagues in terms of national managers.

16 of the 20 top-flight coaches in Italy are from Italy, Eleven in La Liga are Spanish, 12 in the Bundesliga are German while Ten of the 18 are French.

The present Chelsea caretaker manager Calum McFarlane said: "I'm sure all young English coaches with a youth development pedigree are, to some degree regardless of allegiance, supporting Liam.

"It's really inspirational to up-and-coming British coaches in the system to see an individual get such a role with that profile and we hope he will be really well."

'Let's not forget – his appointment is based on talent'

His father, Leroy, Rosenior Sr., had a career with clubs such as West London clubs, the Hammers and Queens Park Rangers, with his coaching stint culminating in a brief stint in charge of then-League One side Brentford in 2006.

In 2019, he was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in that year's Honours List for his services to tackling discrimination in football and wider society.

After Liam retired from playing he pursued a path in management. He started writing articles for a national newspaper, and in one piece he acknowledged the under-representation among managers. He pointed out that ethnicity does not influence coaching skill arguing that roles must be awarded on merit.

He further expressed the view he has often stated: how vast lack of diversity leads to a failure to understand of players with diverse ethnic and cultural heritage.

In a podcast for a football podcast, he explained how his leading forward, Emmanuel Emegha, was labelled "hard to manage" or "passionate", but said he understood the Dutch international of Nigerian descent. The striker is expected to join him in moving from Strasbourg to Chelsea this summer.

In subsequent Guardian columns, he also confessed to being "ashamed" to hear a coach make a discriminatory remark. He vowed support for the inclusion campaign and wrote an open letter to the former US President while he was in office, condemning his "blatant" racism.

Rosenior has since built his reputation as a manager – initially with Hull City, later at Strasbourg – with Wayne Rooney said this week he was "among the best coaches I've ever worked with" after their collaboration at Derby County.

The manager bid goodbye at Strasbourg on Tuesday morning prior to putting pen to paper on a six‑and‑a‑half‑year deal at Chelsea.

The Blues had the Premier League's pioneering black boss with Gullit as well as the first black captain named Paul Elliott.

Elliott later worked in several executive roles, including the Football Association's equality board|