Why are there so few black football managers?

Posted on: 16 September 2024 in Research

WATCH! Dr Sam Hoey’s research provides striking evidence of racial discrimination towards black ex-players in football management roles in England.

While there is a substantial amount of research focused on racial discrimination against current players, very little is known about the “grass-ceiling” black former players face in obtaining managerial jobs.

Despite more than 40% of players in English Premier League (EPL) and nearly 35% in the English Football League (EFL) being black, there are very few examples of former black players taking the hot seat in a dugout.

A study commissioned by the advocacy group Black Footballers Partnership (BFP)¹,revealed non-black players were 50% more likely to get into management than black players.

Sam and colleagues Dr Thomas Peeters (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Dr Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan), studied a sample of about 3,500 players active in England’s top two divisions from 1990 to 2010 who stopped playing in 2013 or earlier.

73% of the black footballers in the sample played in the Premier League, with an average 62 appearances per player, while 62% of the non-black players appeared in the top-flight, with an average of 49 appearances.

However, the analysis shows former black footballers have become the lost generation off the pitch, despite playing a key role on it.

Despite making up 25% of those with the required UEFA coaching qualifications, the findings indicate black former footballers only account for a stark 4% of all managerial EPL and EFL roles.

One of the most surprising aspects “was the magnitude of the effects, especially at the top end, if you look at the top job, which is manager of a club”, said Sam.

This striking difference makes “almost impossible for black former players to obtain these jobs in the Premier League”.

In addition to getting fewer chances to become managers, black ex-players who do reach the top job, are promoted slower and their progress stalls sooner.

They are also more likely get fired quicker than their non-black counterparts.

While in general former black players get fewer chances at becoming managers, the report stresses the hurdles for those who make it don’t stop once they reach the top job.

Black players get promoted more slowly and their progress stalls sooner. As a result, the average black ex-player does not accumulate much more than half the managerial experience which other former players do.

Black coaches also get fired quicker than their non-black counterparts, despite demonstrating a similar performance:

• A black manager is 41% more likely to be fired than a white manager when factors such as performance are equal.
• Across all management roles, a black person is 17% more likely to be fired.

The study provides evidence of the dimension and pervasive effects of racial discrimination in football management circles in England, which Sam hopes can “raise awareness around this issue”.

However, he stresses “it's a very difficult issue to solve” because “discrimination is very deep rooted in society and to make a change, you need to make changes to people's mindsets”.

Key football figures, such as Les Ferdinand, Chris Ramsey, Michael Johnson, Ricky Hill, Paul Davis and Sol Campbell have joined the BFP’s Executive director, Delroy Corinaldi, to demand diversity and inclusivity objectives in the Football Governance Bill, which will establish legislation for the new Independent Football Regulator.

They have also called for football stakeholders to work with the BFP to understand the lived experiences of discrimination by black current and former players, due to their role in addressing prejudice and racial discrimination.

“Everyone has some biases which perhaps they're not even aware of in terms of future things we want to look at” and there is also the question of who is causing discrimination, as “there's many groups that could be influencing the process.”

Senior management “in the end, is in charge of decision making, which manager they hire”, however if this group is predominantly white, they may have a predisposition to hiring white managers.”

However, researchers can help identify potential solutions to “have methods to assess which factor is most important and which one policymakers must target.”

Sam mentions an area which can be explored is “for example, in the rare case that a football club would have a black CEO, does this change who they hire?”

Regarding “entry promotion and higher dismissal rates for black managers”, Sam explains researchers can measure differences in the effects from solving each issue separately.

That is, which one contributes to reduce the impact of discrimination better and should therefore be prioritised in new policies and regulations.

Sam’s research demonstrates addressing race equity in football has a long way to go, but underscores the potential of research in sports economics and data analytics to provide guidance and solutions.

1 The Black Footballers Partnership an advocacy organisation of black present and former male and female players, aimed at increasing the voice and influence of black footballers.

Dr Sam Hoey Lecturer in Econometrics