A Emotional Occasion when Rosenior Shatters Barriers

"Liam Rosenior is an excellent manager that knows football inside out, which is the most important thing.

"But, in my role as Chelsea's first African heritage player, it would be dishonest if I said this appointment does not affect me."

Those are the sentiments expressed by Paul Canoville, the man who made his groundbreaking first appearance for Chelsea's senior side as a substitute back in the spring of 1982.

On Tuesday, the club appointed RC Strasbourg boss Rosenior, 41, to be their next head coach after the exit of manager Enzo Maresca.

The French club is within the multi-club BlueCo that also controls Chelsea.

There have been only twelve black managers – excluding individuals in interim positions – in England's top flight since it began 34 years ago.

"One thing that impresses me about Liam is he was raised and developed his game not far from here, he knows this community," added Canoville.

"Whenever kids observe someone like Liam in charge of their club, a person they can identify with, from a similar background, from a family that champions equality… that's powerful and shows them the path is there.

"Indeed, it is an enormous moment for the club, for the capital, for every young person dreaming big.

"However, currently? Let's back Liam, give him the necessary tools, and let the man get on with the job."

What Does the Numbers Indicate?

The iconic Dutchman Ruud Gullit was appointed the Blues' manager back in the nineties and became the top flight's inaugural black head coach.

A dozen years on, by 2008, Paul Ince was appointed as the first black English boss in the top flight when he took over Blackburn Rovers.

The Hammers' manager Nuno Espirito Santo is the sole additional current top flight boss of colour.

The scarcity of ethnic minority managers throughout the English game is matched by an absence of diversity at executive level.

As per the Black Footballers Partnership 2023 study, 43% of Premier League players are from African or Caribbean backgrounds.

Yet, analysis from the equality organization revealed just 3.2% of board and senior leadership positions across most Premier League clubs are from minority ethnic backgrounds.

At first-team coaching positions, based on figures provided by eleven clubs, the percentage stands at 2%.

Across all coaching roles – encompassing head coaches – from those same 11 clubs, the figure is five percent.

"He has undoubtedly made history by virtue of his appointment as the Chelsea head coach, and as an organization, we hope to see more of that," stated the chief executive of Kick It Out Samuel Okafor.

"We know that there exists loads of talent present within ethnic minority groups... aspiring coaches desire the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do. It is imperative to persist in work hard to break those barriers down."

Additionally, the new appointee will become the fourth full-time English managers presently in the Premier League – alongside Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – which lags behind Europe's remaining major leagues regarding national managers.

Sixteen out of twenty top-flight managers in Italy are Italian, Eleven in La Liga in Spain, 12 in the Bundesliga in Germany while Ten in Ligue 1 are French.

Current Blues interim boss Calum McFarlane said: "I have no doubt every aspiring British coaches from an academy background will be, in some way regardless of allegiance, supporting Liam.

"It's truly motivating to young English academy coaches to see an individual land such a role with that profile and we hope he does really well."

It is vital to remember – he's there on merit'

His father, Leroy, Rosenior Sr., had a career with the likes of Fulham, West Ham as well as Queens Park Rangers, with his coaching stint culminating in a five-month spell at the third-tier club Brentford FC in 2006.

In 2019, he received a Member of the Order of the British Empire in that year's 2019 New Year Honours for his services in combating discrimination within the sport and beyond.

After Liam retired from playing he followed a path in management. He started penning a column for a national newspaper, and in one piece he addressed the lack of diversity among managers. He pointed out that ethnicity does not determine ability arguing that roles must be awarded on merit.

He further expressed the view he has often stated: that vast lack of diversity results in misunderstandings regarding footballers from different cultural and ethnic heritage.

In a podcast with The Athletic FC, he explained the way his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, had been described as "difficult" and "emotional", but said he could relate to the Dutch player with Nigerian parentage. Emegha is set to join him in moving from Strasbourg to Chelsea this summer.

In further newspaper articles, he also confessed he was "embarrassed" upon hearing a staff member make a discriminatory remark. He vowed his support for the Rainbow Laces campaign and wrote a public message to Donald Trump during his first US presidency, condemning his "blatant" prejudice.

He has subsequently built his reputation in the dugout – initially with Hull City, then Strasbourg – with Wayne Rooney said this week Rosenior was "among the best coaches I've ever worked with" following their collaboration with Derby.

The manager bid goodbye at Strasbourg earlier this week before signing a six‑and‑a‑half‑year deal with the Blues.

The Blues boasted the top flight's pioneering black boss in Gullit and the first black captain named Paul Elliott.

Elliott later worked in multiple executive roles, among them the Football Association's diversity and inclusion board|