Although football in all of its forms in England appears to have thrown its weight behind the Black Lives Matter campaign, and looks to be doing its best to understand more fully the effects of racism in the game, Tottenham’s Danny Rose believes much more needs to be done.
Taking a knee before kick-off has become a common occurrence recently, and more sportsmen and women of colour seem to feel comfortable in coming out and talking about their experiences.
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If nothing else, it’s a start towards understanding a very emotive subject for many, but Rose isn’t convinced it’s anything other than lip service in many cases.
“There is so, so, so much more that needs to be done,” he said on the Second Captains podcast, cited by the Daily Express.
“I have played at Sunderland, Tottenham, Newcastle, Bristol City, Peterborough, Watford and Leeds United and I don’t remember a black person working upstairs at these clubs.
“That’s one of the things that needs to change. There has to be a change and going away from that you just need to look at the amount of black managers that are in football.
“You look back at the greats when I was growing up, Andy Cole and Sol Campbell, obviously Sol Campbell is in management now but he has had to start at the bottom and his CV is as good as anybody’s.
“It is just things like that, with the number of the black coaches that are at the forefront on a Saturday, there aren’t many and that needs to change. There are so many things that need to change.
“I respect and understand it will not change overnight, but I just hope people are aware of what I am saying and they don’t just think I am moaning. What I am saying is near enough fact. I just hope it will change in the future.”
Rose should be lauded for his stance.
It takes courage to put your head above the parapet when you know that it could end up being a lonely platform from which to preach.
In order for things to change, the conversation has to start somewhere. Maybe Rose has done just that…