Would the Rooney Rule actually work?

As sports journalist Ollie Holt and the Mirror newspaper launched their 'Open Goal' campaign to bring the NFL's Rooney Rule to English football, editor Dean Mears looks into whether the rule would actually work.
It's a very commendable idea, why shouldn't these great players also make great managers? Is their route into management really being blocked by racism? You wouldn't like to think so. Are black players and coaches simply using this as an excuse to get top jobs handed to them? Again you wouldn't like to think so. The Rooney Rule makes clubs interview at least one minority candidate for a senior coaching role, but if Black coaches are applying now and not getting jobs, what's going to change?

Dan Rooney and America's first black president Barack Obama

The Rooney Rule was pushed through in the NFL by Dan Rooney, owner of Pittsburgh Steelers and chairman of the league's diversity commitee. The Rule means that each NFL franchise must interview at least one minority candidate when a senior coaching role comes available. As a result the percentage of African-American coaches in the NFL jumped from 6% to 22%, even though there is no obligation to hire minority candidates.


Unlike America, Britain did not have the same racism issue, there was no Civil Right Movement like there was in America, and the old Southern states, which are still today heavily racist against non white Christain's, controlled America. Although Racism on the terraces was happening in Britain, it was soon stamped out and black people and players are openly accepted in all walks of life. This is where I don't see the rule working in England, I'm not claiming the majority of NFL owners are racist, because clearly, there not (You only need to look at Dan Rooney for this),  but in America doing the 50's and 60's African-Americans didn't even have basic civil rights. Black's were viewed as second rate, and therefore the White population flourished, while the black community was held back. In Britain we simply didn't have this problem, and I strongly doubt the 92 football club owners would prejudice against skin colour, especially in the modern multicultural societies we have across the UK.

Cole won't complete his coaching badges until he is guaranteed a job

In an interview with the Mirror, former Newcastle and Manchester United striker Andrew Cole said “So many good people have told me, ‘Coley, do it. Move on to the next one [coaching badge]’. And one minute I think, ‘Yes, you’re right. But then the next I think, ‘No, what’s the point?" Now to me, this shows that Cole isn't even trying, does this mean the systems flawed? Not necessarily, to me it seems Cole will only do this coaching badges if he is guaranteed a job. Nobody doing their coaching badges is guaranteed a job at the end, and why should Cole be any different to anyone else? That would be discrimination.


Now, I know this is a sensitive issue, so I'm going to make myself clear by saying that not all black players are not taking their badges because they're not guaranteed jobs. Ex-pro's like Paul Ince was given the chance in the Premier League at Blackburn, and sadly it didn't work out for him. Chris Powell has been given the Charlton job and has made a very impressive start and he could be in the Premier League in a couple of years. Manager's have to earn respect, it's why you see the big name managers on the managerial-merry-go-round with the top clubs in Europe, owners want success and aren't likely to go with unproven names. 


We haven't got the stats available to us to show the numbers of black coaches applying for managerial roles, so it's not easy work out why the 25% of black players that make up our game, only translate into 2% of managers. Maybe half of that 25% percent simply aren't interested in management. We simply cannot tell, I also don't have figures for the percentage of black people taking coaching badges, so we can translate those figures into football managers. Maybe the Rooney Rule could encourage more black players to take their badges, but I find it hard to believe that these opportunities aren't already their for them.


10 years ago, English football had 2 black managers, and today we have 2 black managers, but could this simply be a fair reflection of how many black coaches are applying for jobs? Rather than the majority of football club owners being racist? Bringing the Rooney Rule to England is a very commendable idea, but England is not America, and I don't think just because they are being interviewed means the numbers will jump like they did in America. The culture and race problems in America are completely different to our own, managers here were always hired on talent and skills (with the exception of Avram Grant) so if a coach is good enough, he will get employed no matter what the colour of his skin.