Clubs must face sanctions if they fail to comply with diversity reporting requirements and workforce targets, Kick It Out’s chief executive has said.
Data released by the Football Association on Wednesday showed the 53 clubs signed up to the Football Leadership Diversity Code (FLDC) collectively failed to meet any of the eight hiring targets set last season.
The FA board has now approved the creation of a new rule which will make clubs publicly declare their workforce diversity data on age, sex, gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation twice a year from 2024-25.
The detail of the new rule will be worked out in consultation with the Premier League, the EFL, the Women’s Super League and the Women’s Championship but Kick, It Out chief Tony Burnett insists it must have teeth if it is going to prove effective.
“The club results for the Football Leadership Diversity Code are disappointing, but they are not wholly unexpected,” he said.
“In the process of setting up the code, we expressed concerns that if football wanted to drive change, it needed to be transparent about its whole workforce.
“Clubs were only willing to provide limited recruitment data and there were no sanctions for failing to comply.
“Now is the time to be bolder. The FA’s intention to make reporting of diversity data mandatory for all men’s and women’s clubs is a step in the right direction. We would urge the Premier League, EFL and all its 92 clubs to make that data transparent.
“But we also need sanctions for non-compliance and future diversity targets baked into FA, Premier League and EFL rules. Without that commitment, we won’t know the true scale of the challenge nor be able to find solutions to make football more representative of the people who love the game.”
The FLDC was established in October 2020 in a bid to tackle under-representation in the game, but Wednesday’s 2022-23 figures demonstrate clubs’ collective failure to meet any of the targets set.
Senior leadership hiring of black, Asian and mixed heritage candidates is set at 15 per cent, but clubs only achieved 9.1 per cent. In men’s clubs, the target for new coaching hires from a black, Asian or mixed heritage background was 25 per cent but clubs only managed 16 per cent.
For the first time clubs’ existing workforce data was included in the FLDC data published. It demonstrated that levels of diversity off the pitch fall well below the level in the playing population, and that hiring rates are currently not high enough to drive the rapid change needed.
Within the 53 club signatories, 21 per cent of senior leaders and 29 per cent of team operations are female and seven per cent of senior leaders and nine per cent of team operations are black, Asian or mixed heritage. Across the coaching workforce, 13 per cent of coaches and 11 per cent of senior coaches are black, Asian or mixed heritage.
Data from the Black Football Partnership published earlier this year showed 43 per cent of Premier League players and 34 per cent of Championship players were black.
Former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott, who was key to the FLDC’s creation three years ago, said on Wednesday: “Football wants the diversity off the field to match what we see on the field.
“While we have work to do to improve player diversity in the women’s game, diversity on the pitch in the men’s game is a given.
“Despite this, if we look at Europe’s top five leagues, there are only two black head coaches – one is Vincent Kompany at Burnley and the other is Patrick Vieira at Strasbourg.
“So the challenge is not just in the UK, it’s all across Europe, but I personally have a greater expectation of progress in the UK because of the diversity of our society.
“By evolving the code to mandatory reporting of workforce data, we can take a new approach with new transparency. It is a natural next step. I am pleased that the FA is leading on this topic and embedding it in the rules of the game; that will help to accelerate progress and the growth we need.”
Kick It Out wants football’s new independent regulator to oversee equality standards as part of a code of football governance and to compel clubs to share representation and recruitment data.
Currently, clubs in the Premier League are independently evaluated under the league’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion standard (PLEDIS), while the EFL’s Equality Code of Practice assesses work, learning, development and commitment to EDI and provides a grade of bronze, silver or gold after review.
Fonseca targets statement Milan win over Real Madrid
Milan have no need to fear Real Madrid and their coach Paulo Fonseca is targeting a statement win in the Champions League.
Despite having won more Champions League/European Cup titles (seven) than any other club apart from Madrid (15), it has been 17 years since Milan last lifted the trophy in 2007.
On the other hand, holders Madrid have won the Champions League six times since 2013-14.
But Fonseca sees no reason to fear Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Carlo Ancelotti's side were recently hammered 4-0 by Barcelona.
"We're playing against a team that aspires to win the Champions League every year and for us it's a great opportunity to grow," Fonseca said.
"We'll play without fear of anything, with courage, because we believe we can play a great game and do great things.
"I always transmit to my team the desire to win and tomorrow will be no different. Real Madrid are a great team, but we will go out there thinking about winning. After that, anything can happen, but that's the mentality.
"To win a match like this, we have to defend well, have possession of the ball and create dangerous situations. A match against Real Madrid is a chance to show the world our quality and the way we are growing."
Madrid are 12th in the 36-team Champions League table with six points, while Milan are languishing in 25th spot – just outside the play-off places – with three points after three games.
Fonseca explained Milan had carefully studied Barcelona's 4-0 win over Madrid in last month's Clasico.
"I saw the derby, it's impossible not to watch it. They are teams I like to watch and I paid close attention to the game," Fonseca said.
"We are different from Barcelona but it was important to see Real Madrid's intentions against them because Barca have a similar way of defending with us. We made the whole team watch the game.
"It is the match between the two clubs that have won the Champions League the most. There are many games in the continent that are big, but this one is obviously something special, a match between two clubs that are attractive.
"We hope to put on a good show for people who enjoy good football."
Milan are winless in their last three Champions League games against Madrid (D2 L1) since they won 3-2 in October 2009 with goals from Andrea Pirlo and Alexandre Pato.
Madrid have won five of their seven home matches against Milan in the competition (D1 L1), beating them 2-0 in the most recent such match in October 2010.
Girona have little to lose and everything to gain, says Michel
Girona have plenty to gain and little to lose when they visit PSV in the Champions League, coach Michel claimed.
Despite securing a maiden European triumph over Slovan Bratislava last month, Girona are still struggling to find their best form, dealing with a long list of players out injured.
Following a LaLiga win over Leganes on Saturday, Michel said his players may not be full of energy but have the mentality to look for points at the Philips Stadion.
A positive result could be vital, given Girona then take on the likes of Liverpool, Milan and Arsenal.
"We have a lot to win and little to lose," Michel said ahead of Girona's first ever meeting with PSV.
" We are playing against a historic team with European titles. We don't come with all the energy I want, but we do come with a mentality.
"We need the points and, of course, every game is important. I don't know how high the bar will be to get into the top (places) but we are on a privileged stage and we will compete."
Girona occupy the 24th and final play-off place in the 36-team Champions League table, with three points from three games. PSV are in 28th with two points.
"We have to try to be the ones who dominate and who have the ball. We have to try to make them look towards their goal, if we give them control it will be very difficult for us to keep up the pace and hold them off," Michel added.
"PSV have been practically unbeaten at home for two years in a row. They are a great team with tremendous pressure and pace.
"We know how difficult it will be and if we want to get anything out of them we have to match their intensity."
Spanish teams have lost all four of the away games they have played in the Champions League this season.
PSV, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last five home matches in the UEFA Champions League; their longest run without a home defeat in the competition since December 2005 (11 games). However, four of the five games in their current run have ended in stalemates (W1), including each of the last three.
Silva grateful Fulham's dominance was rewarded with late win
Marco Silva believes Fulham claimed a "deserved win" against Brentford, though admits they should have secured the three points much earlier in their 2-1 victory.
It looked like Vitaly Janelt's 24th-minute strike against the run of play was going to wrap up all three points for Brentford, but Harry Wilson proved the Cottagers' hero off the bench, scoring twice in stoppage time to snatch the three points.
Fulham had dominated from the first whistle and had 26 shots, 12 of which were on target, though they struggled to find a way past their opponents' staunch defence until the 92nd minute.
Wilson became just the sixth player to score an equalising and match-winning goal from the 90th minute onwards in the Premier League, while his second goal was Fulham's latest-ever Premier League winner at 96:46.
Silva was delighted with how his team pushed until the final seconds to ensure they came away with a win.
"It was definitely a deserved win. We started on the front foot and dominated all the game. In the first 20 minutes, we had two clear chances to score," Silva told BBC Sport.
"After they scored, we didn't lose the confidence and the trust in ourselves, we kept pushing them back, and we created enough to not be losing at half-time.
"I told the players this is football, it can happen, but we have to keep pushing, working hard and playing our way.
"It was late, it should've been much before, but that's football."
Brentford, meanwhile, have now dropped a league-high 14 points from winning positions in the Premier League as they suffered a fifth consecutive away defeat in the competition.
In fact, they are the first side in the competition's history to score the first goal in four consecutive away games and lose all four.
They had defended resolutely until their late lapse in concentration, and even had a chance to win it, only for Bernd Leno's impressive save to keep out Fabio Carvalho in the 95th minute.
Thomas Frank, though, admitted he was not yet ready to take the positives from the performance after the disappointment of their late defeat.
"It was tough. It is emotionally very tough right now," Frank told Sky Sports.
"When you are leading in the 92nd minute, and you lose, it is tough. I don't think we hit our highest level. I think on the day Fulham were better.
"There was a lot of good defending and effort, and I thought that would have given us the win. We could have won it with the chance for Fabio Carvalho and then we lost.
"When we look at the game back, and we are more cool-headed, we will probably be very happy with the defensive standard. I thought there were unbelievable blocks, and recovery runs and all that we did well. On the ball, we didn't do enough."
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