A Significant Event when Liam Rosenior Breaks Obstacles

"He is an excellent coach who understands football back to front, which is the most important thing.

"But, as the Blues' pioneering African heritage footballer, I would be lying to claim this appointment doesn't move me."

These were the words expressed by Paul Canoville, who made his groundbreaking first appearance for the Blues' first team off the bench back in the spring of 1982.

This week, the club appointed Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, 41, to be their new head coach following the exit of manager Enzo Maresca.

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

There have been only 12 black head coaches – not including individuals in temporary caretaker roles – in the Premier League since it began thirty-four in the past.

"One thing that impresses me about Liam is that he was raised and played locally, he knows the local fans," continued Canoville.

"Whenever youngsters see someone like Liam in charge of their club, a person who looks like them, from a similar background, from a family that champions what's right… it is powerful and shows them that opportunities exist.

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

"However, currently? We must support Rosenior, give him the necessary tools, and let the man do his work."

What Do the Data Indicate?

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit was appointed Chelsea head coach in 1996 thereby becoming the top flight's first African heritage manager.

A dozen years on, by 2008, Paul Ince became the pioneering English black boss in the Premier League when he took over Blackburn Rovers.

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo currently stands as the sole additional current Premier League boss of colour.

The scarcity of managers of colour throughout the English game corresponds with a lack of representation in the boardroom.

According to the BFP 2023 report, 43% of top-flight players come from black heritage.

However, analysis from Kick It Out found only 3.2 percent of board and senior leadership management teams across most Premier League clubs are from ethnically diverse communities.

Regarding first-team coaching level, according to data provided by eleven clubs, the percentage stands at two percent.

For all coaching positions – including head coaches – from those same 11 clubs, the figure is just five percent.

"He has undoubtedly made history in terms of him being announced as a Chelsea head coach, and we hope to see more of that," stated the chief executive of Kick It Out Samuel Okafor.

"We know there is a wealth of talent present in the black and underrepresented communities... aspiring coaches desire the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities. We need to continue to work hard to dismantle those barriers down."

Additionally, the new appointee is set to become one of only four permanent English head coaches currently in the Premier League – joining Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe as well as Scott Parker – which trails Europe's remaining big five leagues in terms of national managers.

Sixteen of the 20 first division managers in Italy are from Italy, Eleven in La Liga in Spain, 12 in the Bundesliga in Germany while 10 in Ligue 1 in France.

The present Chelsea caretaker manager Calum McFarlane said: "I have no doubt every aspiring British coaches from an academy background are, in some way regardless of allegiance, rooting for Liam.

"It is really motivating to young English academy coaches to witness someone get such a role with that profile and everyone hopes he will be really well."

'Let's not forget – he's there based on talent'

His father, Leroy, Rosenior Sr., had a career with clubs such as West London clubs, the Hammers and Queens Park Rangers, and his managerial career peaked with a brief spell at then-League One side Brentford FC back in 2006.

Two years ago, he received an MBE in the Honours List for services rendered to tackling inequality in football and beyond.

After Liam hung up his boots he followed a path in management. He began penning a column for The Guardian, where in 2017 he acknowledged the lack of diversity of black coaches. He highlighted that race does not influence coaching skill and said roles must be awarded based on qualification.

He also made a point he would repeat: that significant lack of diversity results in a failure to understand regarding footballers from different cultural and ethnic heritage.

In a podcast with The Athletic FC, he explained the way his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, was labelled "hard to manage" and "emotional", noting that he could relate to the Netherlands player with Nigerian parentage. Emegha is set to follow him with a move from France to Chelsea in July.

In further newspaper articles, he also confessed he was "embarrassed" to hear an unnamed coach utter a discriminatory remark. He pledged support for the Premier League's inclusion campaign and authored an open letter to the former US President while he was in office, condemning his "overt" racism.

He has subsequently built his reputation as a manager – first at Hull City, later at Strasbourg – with Wayne Rooney said this week Rosenior was "among the best coaches I've ever worked with" following their time together with Derby.

The manager bid goodbye to his former club on Tuesday morning before signing a long-term contract at Chelsea.

The Blues had the Premier League's first black boss in Gullit and the first black skipper in Paul Elliott.

Elliott has since held multiple executive roles, including the Football Association's diversity and inclusion board|