An Significant Moment when Rosenior Shatters Boundaries

"Liam Rosenior is a quality manager that knows football back to front, which is the most important thing.

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

Those are the sentiments expressed by the former Chelsea winger, the man who earned his historic first appearance for the Blues' first team off the bench in the spring of 1982.

On Tuesday, the club appointed RC Strasbourg boss Rosenior, 41, as their new head coach following the exit of manager Enzo Maresca.

The French club is part of the multi-club ownership group which also controls the London club.

There have been just twelve black head coaches – excluding those holding temporary caretaker roles – in England's top flight since it began thirty-four in the past.

"What really strikes me about Liam is he was raised and played locally, he knows the local fans," continued Canoville.

"Whenever kids observe a figure like Rosenior in charge of the team they support, a person who looks like them, from a similar background, from a family that fights for what's right… that's profound demonstrating that opportunities exist.

"Indeed, it is an enormous moment for the club, for London, for every aspiring individual with big dreams.

"However, currently? Let's back Liam, provide him with what he needs, and allow him to get on with the job."

What Do the Numbers Show?

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit became the Blues' head coach in 1996 and became the top flight's inaugural African heritage head coach.

A dozen years on, in 2008, Paul Ince was appointed as the pioneering English black manager in the Premier League after taking charge at Blackburn Rovers.

The Hammers' boss Nuno Espirito Santo currently stands as the only other current Premier League boss of colour.

The lack of ethnic minority managers throughout English football is matched by a lack of representation at executive level.

As per the BFP 2023 study, forty-three percent of Premier League players come from black heritage.

Yet, analysis from Kick It Out revealed only 3.2 percent of board and senior leadership positions at 17 of 20 Premier League clubs are held by people from ethnically diverse communities.

Regarding first-team coaching level, based on figures from eleven clubs, the figure stands at two percent.

For all coaching roles – including senior roles – from those same eleven clubs, the figure is five percent.

"He has undoubtedly made history in terms of him being announced as a the Chelsea manager, and we want to see more of that," stated Kick It Out CEO Samuel Okafor.

"We know that there exists a wealth of talent that exists within ethnic minority communities... they want a chance to show what they can do. It is imperative to persist in work hard to break those barriers down."

Furthermore, Rosenior is set to become the fourth permanent British head coaches presently managing in the top flight – joining Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – which trails Europe's other big five leagues in terms of national managers.

16 out of twenty first division managers in Serie A are Italian, 11 of the 20 in Spain, Twelve in the Bundesliga are German and Ten in Ligue 1 in France.

Current Blues interim boss Calum McFarlane said: "I'm sure all aspiring British managers with a youth development pedigree will be, to some degree regardless of allegiance, rooting for Liam.

"It's really inspirational to young English academy coaches to witness someone land that job with his background and everyone hopes he does really well."

'Let's not forget – his appointment is due to ability'

Leroy Rosenior, Rosenior Sr., played for the likes of West London clubs, West Ham as well as Queens Park Rangers, with his managerial career peaked with a five-month spell in charge of the third-tier club Brentford in 2006.

Two years ago, he was awarded an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for his services in combating discrimination within the sport and wider society.

After Liam retired from playing he pursued his father's footsteps. He began writing a column for The Guardian, and in one piece he addressed the lack of diversity among managers. He highlighted that race does not determine coaching skill arguing that opportunities must be awarded based on qualification.

He further expressed a point he would repeat: that vast lack of diversity leads to a failure to understand regarding footballers with diverse ethnic and cultural heritage.

In a podcast for a football podcast, he explained how his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, had been described as "difficult" or "emotional", but said he understood the Netherlands player of Nigerian descent. The striker is expected to follow him with a move from Strasbourg to West London in July.

In subsequent newspaper articles, he also confessed to being "ashamed" to hear a coach utter a discriminatory remark. He vowed support for the inclusion initiative and authored a public message to the former US President while he was in office, condemning his "blatant" racism.

He has subsequently made his name in the dugout – first at Hull City, later at Strasbourg – and Wayne Rooney said this week Rosenior was "as good a coach as I've ever worked with" after their time together at Derby County.

The manager bid his farewells to his former club on Tuesday morning prior to putting pen to paper on a six‑and‑a‑half‑year contract at Chelsea.

Chelsea had the top flight's first black manager with Gullit as well as the first black skipper in Paul Elliott.

Elliott later worked in several executive roles, among them the Football Association's equality board|