'Glass ceiling' for black people moving into football management

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Concluded Les Ferdinand, Wilson, Walters and Bennet

Racism in football has reduced over the last thirty years although there is still a ‘glass ceiling’ for black people wishing to move into management. This was the verdict of John Barnes, Les Ferdinand, Clive Wilson, Mark Walters and Gary Bennet as they discussed racism in football at Hammersmith Town Hall, last Thursday 27 October.

The team of legends were discussing ‘How football has tackled racism in the game over the last 30 years’ as part of Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s Black History Month 2005.

John Barnes, who spent 10 years at Liverpool and scored 12 goals in 78 appearances for England, said, “I have applied for five jobs since leaving Celtic and only one club even agreed to see me – and they didn’t give me the job. During the 70s and 80s black players took stick on the pitch – we’ve now got to take the fight to the boardrooms. There should be more black managers in the game than there are at the moment.”

Ex-QPR and England striker Les Ferdinand said, “The issue of racism is very important and needs to be constantly addressed. I think with the advent of campaigns like ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ and ‘Kick it Out’ there has been a huge decrease in racism among fans around the grounds. However, I do think a glass ceiling still exists in some clubs and that has got to be sorted as there are plenty of black ex-players with the qualifications and know how to be great managers.”

Gary Bennet, who was the first black Captain of a top-flight football team, said, “As long as there is racism in society it will exist in football. People aren’t born racist they learn it. Great strides have been taken in the last few years but we need to continue to educate young people to make sure new racists don’t appear. A lot of potentially great players were not picked up in the seventies and eighties because of the colour of their skin and the danger now is that we are missing out on some great black managers because of this glass ceiling that exists in boardrooms.”

Former QPR, Chelsea and Tottenham left back Clive Wilson said, “I remember playing an away game at Derby and hearing racists comments from the crowd. When I went to take one of the corners I had bananas thrown at me and heard monkey chants. Thankfully this sort of thing is rare in the game now. But the more we can do to root out the idiots the better. Some Chairmen are now happy with a white manager fielding 6 or 7 black players but would not be happy with black manager doing the same job – it’s just ridiculous.”

The debate, which was run in conjunction with the Voice Newspaper group and BBC Radio London, was watched by an audience of more than 350 people and will be broadcast on the Geoff Schuman Show this Sunday 30 October, marking the end to this year’s Black History Month.

Leader of the council, Cllr Stephen Burke, said, “We have a football pedigree second to none in Hammersmith & Fulham as we are the only borough in Europe with three football clubs. We love football and hate racism and by hosting this event and actively taking part we are reinforcing the message that racists have no part to play in this borough or indeed this country. The achievements of legendary black players like ‘Sir’ Les Ferdinand need to be promoted and celebrated as if we fail to pay tribute to the influential role that black people have played in shaping the nation’s history we are forgetting a very important part of what makes us all what we are today.“

Ex- Chelsea player and manger John Hollins said, “I signed Clive Wilson back in the seventies and I remember two supporters coming into my office to tell me that I was a good manager but I should not be playing black players. I told them to sling their hook and I believe Clive was such a good player that he was as good for my career as I was for his. Hopefully views like the ones held by those two fans are long gone now but it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure they don’t come back.”

The debate was just one of more than 50 Black History Month Events in Hammersmith & Fulham during October 2005. A football signed by all of the players is being auctioned for the Show Racism the Red Card charity. To register your bid please click on http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/

October 29, 2005