British Asians, Exclusion and the Football Industry

Does english football warrant the rooney rule? assessing the thoughts of british asian coaches

“…Authors including Bains and Patel (1996), Burdsey 2007, Johal (2001), Kilvington (2016) and Ratna (2007) Although former black players have started to make inroads into senior coaching and management positions in elite level football, British Asian individuals remain largely invisible. It is noteworthy that 'home-grown' black players have consistently accounted for around 15% of the 3,700 professional players within English football since the mid 1990s (Bradbury, 2001) whereas there have never been more than 12 British Asian players with professional contracts competing at any one time across the 92 professional clubs.…”

“…These signifiers lead to signifieds which question and undermine the skill and ability of coaches, as well as players. In turn, British Asian coaches continue to be perceived as a 'gamble' (Bradbury, 2013;Kilvington, 2016) which preserves the status quo as clubs continue to operate 'patterns of institutional closure' by recruiting 'within the dominant (white) social and cultural networks of the professional football industry' (Bradbury, 2017: 12-13).…”

“…In sum, the ability, knowledge and experience of British Asian coach applicants is routinely, albeit often subconsciously, questioned by white (and non-white) coach educators (Bradbury, 2017;Kilvington, 2016). Positive action policies, such as the Rooney Rule, challenge institutional closure and promote 'a more progressive and inclusionary vision of the game than has been the case in the past' (Bradbury, 2013: 309).…”

“…For some coaches, the Rooney Rule was welcomed and strongly These unconscious perceptions, which could be categorised as inferential racism, are founded on the collective memories and histories of the white racial frame (Feagin, 2006). Because British Asians have traditionally been associated with stick sports such as cricket and hockey, football is falsely, but commonly, perceived to be an unimportant subculture among British Asian communities (Bains and Johal, 1998;Burdsey, 2007;Kilvington, 2016). In turn, the British Asian 'body' is perceived to be paradoxical to 'football bodies'.…”

Tackling Social Media Abuse? Critically Assessing English Football’s Response to Online Racism

“…Because popular discourses of inclusion, belonging, equality, meritocracy and 'fairness' are so deeply embedded within sport, few challenge them. Players therefore adopt racial coping mechanisms which Kilvington (2016) summarises as resistance, denial, and acceptance. Players who are reluctant to speak out embrace the denial or downplaying position and thus 'tolerate racism' (Ratna, 2013).…”