Rooney Rule – Will it make its way into English Football?

Rooney Rule does not have anything to do with Wayne Rooney, so what is Rooney Rule? The Rooney Rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, is a rule established in 2003 which requires every NFL team (USA) to interview at least one minority candidate for the head coaching position once there is a vacancy.

What is the position in England towards ethnic representation in football?

Gordon Taylor, Chief Executive of the Players’ Football Association (PFA) said last month the sport “has a hidden resistance preventing black managers getting jobs”, pointing out that “you see so many black players on the pitch, yet we have two black managers out of 92″.

Earlier this week, Rooney himself said British football “has nothing to lose” by adopting a similar regulation.

Hull City boss Steve Bruce said: “Whatever colour you are, or whatever religion you are, then there should be an opportunity.

“I go on about it all the time here now, about the lack of British and English managers. It’s so difficult not just for a black manager.

“You’ve got to take something like seven years to get all the badges and before everything is in place.”

However, Ipswich Town coaches Kieron Dyer and Titus Bramble do not believe they need the help of the “Rooney Rule” in order to progress in their coaching careers.

“I don’t want to be interviewed because it’s filling a quota,” Ipswich Town Under-16s coach Dyer told the Daily Telegraph.

Bramble said: “The rule is a disgrace.”