A Emotional Moment when Rosenior Breaks Barriers

"He is a quality manager who understands football intimately, which is what matters most.

"However, in my role as the Blues' pioneering African heritage player, I would be lying to claim this news does not affect me."

Those are the sentiments expressed by 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 RC Strasbourg manager Rosenior, aged 41, to be their next manager after the exit of Enzo Maresca.

The French club is part of the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital-owned BlueCo which also owns Chelsea.

Statistics show a mere twelve black head coaches – not including individuals in temporary caretaker roles – in the Premier League since it began thirty-four years ago.

"What really strikes me regarding Rosenior is he grew up and played locally, he knows the local fans," continued Canoville.

"Whenever children see a figure like Rosenior managing their club, someone who looks like them, who's from their ends, who comes from a family that fights for what's right… it is profound demonstrating the path is there.

"Indeed, it is a massive step for the club, for London, for all young person dreaming big.

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

What Exactly Does the Numbers Indicate?

The iconic Dutchman Ruud Gullit was appointed Chelsea head coach back in the nineties and became the top flight's first black manager.

Twelve years later, by 2008, Paul Ince was appointed as the pioneering English black boss in the Premier League after taking charge at Blackburn Rovers.

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

The shortage of managers of colour across English football is matched by an absence of diversity at executive level.

As per the Black Footballers Partnership 2023 study, forty-three percent of Premier League footballers come from black heritage.

Yet, research from the equality organization found just 3.2% of executive and leadership positions across most Premier League clubs are held by people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

At first-team coaching positions, according to data provided by 11 clubs, the figure is 2%.

Across all coaching roles – including head coaches – from those same eleven clubs, the statistic is 5%.

"He has undoubtedly broken barriers by virtue of him being announced as a Chelsea manager, and we hope to see more of that," stated the chief executive of Kick It Out Samuel Okafor.

"We know there is loads of talent that exists within black and underrepresented groups... aspiring coaches desire the opportunity to show what they can do. We need to continue to work hard to break those obstacles down."

Additionally, Rosenior will become one of only four permanent English managers currently in the Premier League – joining Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – which lags behind the continent's other major divisions regarding homegrown managers.

16 out of twenty top-flight coaches in Serie A are from Italy, Eleven in La Liga are Spanish, 12 in the Bundesliga are German and Ten of the 18 are French.

The present Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane commented: "I have no doubt all aspiring British managers with a youth development pedigree will be, to some degree regardless of allegiance, supporting Liam.

"It is really motivating to young English academy coaches to witness an individual get such a role with his background and everyone hopes he will be highly successful."

'Let's not forget – he's there based on talent'

Leroy Rosenior, Rosenior Sr., had a career with clubs such as Fulham, the Hammers as well as Queens Park Rangers, and his coaching stint culminating in a five-month stint at then-League One side Brentford FC back 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 in combating inequality within the sport and wider society.

After Liam hung up his boots he pursued his father's footsteps. He started penning articles for a national newspaper, where in 2017 he acknowledged the under-representation of black coaches. He highlighted that ethnicity does not influence ability arguing that opportunities should be given based on qualification.

He also made a point he has often stated: that vast under-representation leads to misunderstandings of players from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

In a podcast for a football podcast, he explained the way his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, was labelled "hard to manage" or "emotional", noting that he could relate to the Dutch player with Nigerian parentage. The striker is expected to join him in moving from Strasbourg to Chelsea this summer.

In further Guardian columns, he also confessed to being "embarrassed" to hear an unnamed coach utter a discriminatory remark. He vowed his support for the inclusion campaign and wrote an open letter to the former US President during his first US presidency, condemning his "overt" prejudice.

He has subsequently made his name as a manager – first at Hull City, later at Strasbourg – and Wayne Rooney recently stating he was "as good a coach as I've ever worked with" following their time together with Derby.

Rosenior said his farewells at Strasbourg on Tuesday morning prior to putting pen to paper on a long-term contract at Chelsea.

Chelsea had the top flight's first black boss with Gullit and the first black skipper named Paul Elliott.

Elliott later worked in multiple senior positions, among them the FA's diversity and inclusion board|