John Madejski's Wallet fwiw I do believe there are issues in football, but I don't think its as clearcut as many make out and I don't think racism is the sole issue
Totally agree with this statement.
A lot is made of the low numbers but very little about why that is but for the numbers to be as low as they are something is stopping BME career progression in football.
The interesting comment I pulled out from the think tanks findings was that there is this culture of 'who you know not what you know' driving managerial appointments. That I can absolutely understand because Chairman/Owners/etc usually appoint a manager who they've some experience of or who has come highly recommended from someone they trust (like McGhee, Pardew, Coppell, McDermott, Rodgers here at Reading).
What I don't understand is why that would exclude BME players from making use of those same connections and backing. Is it only white British players who make positive impressions on the powers that be?
The other oddity is thi 20% target. How come it's so high? What's the BME population in Britain? Less than 10% isn't it? What's the justification for the over represenation?