FA launches Football Leadership Diversity Code to boost opportunities for BAME candidates
The FA has launched the Football Leadership Diversity Code, with over 40 clubs committed to it, as a way to help remedy the lack of inclusion in the game across senior positions, broader team operations and coaching roles.
Developed in collaboration with club executives, players, coaches, HR directors, media and leaders across the sport, it aims to ensure greater gender and ethnic representation, while increasing accountability and transparency.
The code focuses on aiding equality of opportunity with hiring targets – rather than quotas – to encourage recruitment from across society.
The targets, effective immediately, would be as follows:
SENIOR LEADERSHIP AND TEAM OPERATIONS
15% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage [or a target set by the club based on local demographics]
30% of new hires will be female
COACHING: MEN’S PROFESSIONAL CLUBS
25% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage
10% of new senior coaching hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage
COACHING: WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL CLUBS
50% of new hires will be female
15% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage
RECRUITMENT
Shortlists for interview will have at least one male and one female Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage candidate, if applicants meeting the job specifications apply.
A statement read: “The process will be based on merit, to find the best person for the job from diverse talent pipelines. The aim is to move away from recruitment practices focused on personal networks, which is a longstanding challenge across football and has limited the diversity in leadership across the game.
“It is viewed as a starting point towards greater diversity and, while focusing on gender and ethnicity now in reflection of the current player base, it will expand more broadly over time.
“The Premier League and multiple clubs from across the Premier League, English Football League, Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have committed to embedding the Code within its own practices. While not mandatory, The FA is encouraging all clubs across the men’s and women’s games to sign up to the voluntary Code, with a version following the same principles and adapted for the National League System and grassroots clubs to follow in Spring 2021.”
The clubs that have adopted the code as founding signatories are below:
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brentford
Burnley
Burton Albion
Cambridge United
Chelsea
Coventry City
Coventry United
Crystal Palace
Derby County
Durham Women
England
Everton
Fleetwood Town
Fulham
Ipswich Town
Leeds United
Leicester City
Lewes
Lincoln City
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Norwich City
Nottingham Forest
Oxford United
Plymouth Argyle
Portsmouth
Queens Park Rangers
Sheffield United
Stoke City
Swansea City
Tottenham Hotspur
Watford
West Ham United
West Bromwich Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Southampton are a notable absentee from the list of clubs adopting the FA's new Football Leadership Diversity Code, with the club explaining their position as follows:
In 2020 Southampton FC achieved the Premier League’s Advanced Equality Standard at the first time of asking, the only club to have achieved this to date.
This achievement was the culmination of a five year Equality and Diversity journey, which includes setting and monitoring recruitment targets amongst a number of other E&D initiatives forming our action plan.
Southampton FC are wholly supportive of the Football Leadership Diversity code objectives. We are aware that the Premier League are revising their Equality Standard to bring the two closer together. At this time the club consider it most appropriate course of action to wait and understand how a revised Premier League Equality Standard and the Football Leadership Diversity Code will work together and complement each other before revising our recruitment targets and already established processes.
We have had productive and encouraging discussions with Paul Elliott on this topic and will continue to work closely with him on this.
