Black managers in English football

There have been black managers in English football since 1960 when Tony Collins was appointed by Rochdale. Though Collins was manager from 1960 to 1967 and reached the 1962 Football League Cup final, he was overlooked for many years and Keith Alexander at Lincoln City in 1993 was believed to be the first black manager in the country.[1]

An article in The Independent in 2018 found that a quarter of retired England internationals since 1990 had been black, though only one seventh of those had gone into management. Of those five individuals, one was still working in 2018 and only one had managed in the Premier League, for under a year.[2]

History

Background and players

Pioneering black players in early English football history include Gold Coast (Ghana)-born Arthur Wharton who was the first black professional in the 1880s,[3] and former Tottenham Hotspur player Walter Tull who was killed in World War I where he was the first black commander in the British Army to command white troops.[4] Plymouth Argyle forward Jack Leslie was due to become the first black international for England in 1925 but was suddenly dropped, ostensibly because selectors discovered his skin colour.[5]

Modern immigration to the United Kingdom increased the number of black people in the country and in football. In 1978, Viv Anderson was the first black man to be capped by the senior England team,[6] and in 1993 Paul Ince was its first black captain.[7]

Managerial history

In 1960, Tony Collins was appointed by Rochdale. He was the first black manager in English history, and took the Football League Fourth Division team to the 1962 Football League Cup final, where they lost 4–0 on aggregate to Norwich City. After leaving in 1967, he remained in the game as a scout for Leeds United and Manchester United.[1]

Keith Alexander was appointed by Lincoln City in 1993. He died in 2010 while managing Macclesfield Town, and was mistakenly reported at the time to have been English football's first black manager.[8][9] Dutchman Ruud Gullit was the first top-flight black manager with Chelsea in 1995, and the first to win the FA Cup in 1997.[10]

In June 2008, Paul Ince became the first black English manager in the Premier League, taking over at Blackburn Rovers after his spell at Milton Keynes Dons.[11] He was sacked in December.[12] As of November 2021, ten black people had managed in the Premier League, two of whom only as caretaker managers.[13]

When Sol Campbell was appointed at Macclesfield Town in 2018, eight out of 92 managerial positions in England's top four divisions were held by black people, while 18 months earlier it had been two of 92. Campbell was only the sixth black former England international to start a managerial career, and according to the League Managers Association, two thirds of black managers in the league never got a second club.[14]

List of black managers

The following is a list of black managers in the top four divisions of English football, the Premier League and the three divisions of the English Football League. For clubs in bold, the manager was in charge while the club was in the Premier League. All managers are English by sporting nationality, unless otherwise indicated. Since its establishment in the 1992–93 season, the Premier League has twelve Black managers or caretaker managers.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Harris, Sam; Dobney, Ryan (30 October 2021). "Black History Month: Tony Collins - the first black manager in the English Football League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. ^ Liew, Jonathan (4 June 2018). "Football must face up to an indisputable truth: black managers do not get the same chances as white managers". The Independent. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. ^ White, Mark (27 October 2020). "The extraordinary story of Arthur Wharton, the first black professional footballer". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  4. ^ Conway, Richard; Lockwood, David (23 March 2018). "Walter Tull: The incredible story of a football pioneer and war hero". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Jack Leslie: The footballer who should have been England's first black player". ITV News. 1 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Pioneering players: Britain's first black footballers". The Voice. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Paul Ince on being England's first black captain — and fans' "amazing" reaction". Irish Mirror. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  8. ^ Elliott, Paul (3 March 2010). "Keith Alexander was a true pioneer in the fight for racial equality". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Funeral held for football manager Keith Alexander". BBC News. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  10. ^ Smith, Frank. "Black icons of the Emirates FA Cup". The Football Association. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  11. ^ Meikle, James (23 June 2008). "Ince named Premier League's first black English manager". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  12. ^ Wilson, Paul (16 December 2008). "Why on earth did Blackburn Rovers appoint Ince in the first place?". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  13. ^ Osman, Rahman (15 November 2021). "Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira says he is 'disturbed' by the lack of black managers in the Premier League". London World. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  14. ^ a b Taylor, Daniel (1 December 2018). "Sol Campbell makes it tricky for himself but it should not have been this hard". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  15. ^ "'No real change' in opportunities for black former players, report says". BBC Sport. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  16. ^ Williams, Ian (6 November 2025). "Being Premier League's only black manager 'a privilege' - Nuno". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  17. ^ a b "Championship: Cardiff's Danny Gabbidon wonders why there are so few black managers". Sky Sports. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  18. ^ Steinberg, Rachel (28 November 2023). "Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink wants aspring black managers to get 'a fair chance'". The Independent. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  19. ^ Riach, James (9 January 2015). "Fabio Liverani: 'Managing Leyton Orient is an important project'". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  20. ^ "Black Voices in Conversation: Footballer Leroy Rosenior on fighting for equality". ITV News. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  21. ^ Salley, Emily (6 January 2026). "'It means the world to me' - Chelsea appoint Rosenior". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
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