An Moving Milestone when Liam Rosenior Shatters Obstacles

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

"But, in my role as Chelsea's first black footballer, it would be dishonest to claim this appointment does not affect me."

Those are the words of Paul Canoville, the man who earned his historic debut for the Blues' first team off the bench in April 1982.

This week, Chelsea appointed Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, aged 41, to be their next head coach after the exit of Enzo Maresca.

Strasbourg are within a multi-club ownership group that also controls the London club.

There have been a mere 12 black head coaches – excluding those holding temporary caretaker roles – in England's top flight since its inception thirty-four in the past.

"One thing that impresses me about Liam is that he was raised and played locally, he understands this community," added Canoville.

"When kids see a figure like Rosenior managing the team they support, someone who looks like them, from a similar background, who comes from a household that fights for what's right… that's powerful and shows them the path is there.

"Indeed, it is a huge step for the club, for the capital, for every aspiring individual with big dreams.

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

What Do the Numbers Reveal?

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit became the Blues' head coach back in the nineties thereby becoming the top flight's inaugural African heritage manager.

Twelve years later, in 2008, Paul Ince became the pioneering black English boss in the Premier League when he took over Blackburn Rovers.

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo is the sole additional current Premier League gaffer from a minority ethnic background.

The scarcity of managers of colour throughout English football is matched by a lack of diversity at executive level.

According to a Black Footballers Partnership 2023's report, forty-three percent of top-flight footballers come from black backgrounds.

However, analysis from the equality organization found only 3.2% of executive and leadership management teams at 17 of 20 Premier League clubs are from ethnically diverse communities.

Regarding senior coaching level, according to data provided by eleven clubs, the figure stands at 2%.

For all coaching positions – encompassing senior roles – from those same eleven clubs, the figure is five percent.

"He's certainly made history by virtue of him being announced as a the Chelsea head coach, and we want to witness more such appointments," said the chief executive of Kick It Out Samuel Okafor.

"We know that there exists loads of talent present within black and underrepresented groups... aspiring coaches want the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do. We need to continue to striving to break those obstacles down."

Additionally, Rosenior will become the fourth permanent English managers presently in the Premier League – joining Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – a number that lags behind Europe's remaining big five leagues regarding homegrown managers.

16 out of twenty first division coaches in Serie A are from Italy, Eleven of the 20 are Spanish, Twelve of the 18 are German while 10 in Ligue 1 in France.

The present Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane said: "I have no doubt every aspiring British coaches with a youth development pedigree will be, to some degree no matter who you support, supporting Liam.

"It is really motivating for up-and-coming British academy coaches to see someone land that job with his background and we hope he does really well."

'Let's not forget – his appointment is due to ability'

Leroy Rosenior, Liam's father, played for the likes of Fulham, the Hammers and Queens Park Rangers, with his coaching stint peaked with a brief stint in charge of the third-tier club Brentford in 2006.

In 2019, he received a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Honours List for services rendered to tackling inequality in football and beyond.

When Rosenior Jr retired from playing he pursued his father's footsteps. He started penning articles for The Guardian, where in 2017 he addressed the under-representation among managers. He pointed out that ethnicity does not influence ability and said roles must be awarded on merit.

He further expressed a point he has often stated: that significant under-representation leads to misunderstandings regarding footballers from different ethnic and cultural heritage.

During an interview for a football podcast, Rosenior highlighted the way his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, was labelled "difficult" or "emotional", noting that he could relate to the Netherlands player with Nigerian parentage. The striker is expected to follow him in moving from France to West London in July.

In further newspaper articles, he also confessed he was "embarrassed" to hear a coach make a homophobic slur. He pledged his support for the Rainbow Laces campaign and authored a public message to the former US President while he was in office, condemning his "blatant" racism.

Rosenior has since built his reputation in the dugout – first at Hull City, then Strasbourg – with 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 earlier this week prior to putting pen to paper on a long-term contract with the Blues.

Chelsea had the top flight's pioneering African heritage boss in Gullit and the first black captain in Paul Elliott.

Elliott later held several executive roles, including the Football Association's diversity and inclusion board|