he FA wants to work with Les Ferdinand, the director of football at QPR, to see what it can learn about improving levels of diversity within the English game.

Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey, QPR’s technical director, are part of a new campaign group, the Black Footballers Partnership (BFP), calling for clubs and the footballing authorities to improve their record of appointing black coaches, managers and executives.

A report commissioned by the BFP found that although 43 per cent of players in the Premier League and 34 per cent in the EFL are black, only “4.4 per cent of managerial positions usually taken by former players are occupied by black employees”. The report also found that only “1.6 per cent of executive, leadership and ownership positions are black”.

An FA spokesman said: “Recognising that no organisation has all the answers, we would welcome the sharing of best practice and further dialogue with Les to better understand how QPR is building ethnic diversity within its own managerial and coaching staff, to see if there are specific lessons that we can learn and share across the broader football landscape.’’

The FA argues that it has launched a diversity code aiming to address black under-representation in the dugout and in positions of power within the game. The voluntary nature of the code frustrates Ferdinand as there are “no repercussions” if the targets are not met.

“The FA is deeply committed to ensuring the diversity of those playing, coaching and leading within English football is truly reflective of our modern society,” the FA spokesman added. “We’ve been clear on our ambitions and in 2020, we took the proactive step of launching the Football Leadership Diversity Code, which now has over 50 signatories, including all 20 Premier League clubs, and is focused on increasing diversity in senior leadership, team operations and coaching positions.

“While legal reasons prevent the FA from making this code mandatory, this is a first-of-its-kind initiative for English football and is a firm commitment to embedding greater diversity across the football landscape. Over the 2020-21 season against the backdrop of a pandemic, signatory clubs collectively exceeded diversity targets in hiring senior leadership and men’s club senior coaches, while making progress against targets in other areas. This code has now been expanded to the National League system, women’s pyramid and grassroots football.”

Elliott sits on the FA board but is not allowed a vote.

There is, though, frustration that Paul Elliott, the former Chelsea and Aston Villa player, is not allowed a vote when he sits in on FA board meetings. Black players, past and present, believe that such a respected voice as Elliott’s deserves more of a say within the FA, especially given his playing experience.

There is hope that under the enlightened new FA chairwoman, the highly regarded Debbie Hewitt, who started last month, the organisation will improve levels of diversity within the game.

The FA says this process is already under way. “Within the FA specifically, our teams are increasingly diverse, with 14 per cent of our senior management team, 12 per cent of all employees, 20 per cent of our England men’s coaching staff, and four per cent of our England women’s coaching staff coming from Black, Asian, Mixed or other Ethnic backgrounds,” the spokesman added.

“We have been transparent with our data reporting and have set targets to increase representation out to 2024. We are also working to further diversify the FA Council, with the 24 new members this season including National Game football communities and inclusion representatives.

“To support the work of the code, we launched a central careers platform in early 2021 to create greater transparency of roles available across English football, and to help organisations and clubs reach a larger and more diverse audience of candidates. Since its launch, over 900 vacancies have been posted, with over 4,600 applications. Of these, 39 per cent of performance role applicants were from historically under-represented ethnic backgrounds.

“This code adds to the multiple initiatives we are running to increase the number of coaches who have been historically under-represented in the game, including our bursary and coach-development programmes, our fully-funded places initiative, the Elite Coach Placement Programme and support for the recent creation of the Coach Index.”

HENRY WINTER - Chief Football Writer

Ferdinand is convinced systemic racism is still an issue