Decision-makers should pay attention to the lack of black managers, says Hope Powell

Powell, 55, wants to see more questions from people in positions about how the situation can be improved rather than expecting answers from black coaches, adding: “There’s no point in you asking me ‘why?’ because I’m not one to accept decisions I was given a chance and I took it like others but the stats don’t add up do they?

“There has been progress in conversations, initiatives and things like that, but still very little has changed. When you look at certainly the Premier League, the percentage of black players [43 per cent] which never transfers to management, to leadership positions, to decision-making positions, so if you’re asking me if progress has been made, then no.”

Powell, born in south London to Jamaican parents, has previously said that one of her first thoughts when she was offered the job in England 24 years ago was “I can’t fail”.

Asked if she feared black coaches would still feel that way about getting the job today, Powell added: “If we do well, that’s a light — if we don’t, it’s almost like, ‘well, here we go, we gave them a chance and they’re not good enough’, but if we succeed it could be, ‘they’re capable, so surely others must be capable’.

“But unfortunately, I don’t think there are enough opportunities for black people who are qualified, who have the skill set. The percentages never translate.”

For the women, visibility on the pitch has also emerged as a topic of increasing concern in recent months, with 20 players from England’s Euro-winning squad of 23 white and all 11 unchanged starters named by head coach Sarina Wiegman. they were white for the entire tournament.

Partly in a bid to change that in the long term, the Football Association is increasing the number of Centers of Excellence – now known as ‘Centres of Emerging Talent’ – for girls’ football across the country to 70, with many criticizing the previous 30 centers for being mostly located in rural areas and are difficult to access for young people from urban communities.

Powell says the move is a “starting point” and adds: “It’s better to have a starting point than no starting point and I’m sure this program will be reviewed. If it works then great, does that then translate to the England youth team , does it then translate to the under-23s, does it then translate to the first team? It’s positive that it’s a start.

“Going to hard-to-reach areas and hopefully attracting local talent could translate into more black actresses participating in the game, not just locally, but nationally as well.”

In Brighton, where – according to the local council – only 11 per cent of the local community is non-white, below the national average – Powell’s club is trying to take more steps to expand opportunities for players from all backgrounds.

“We realize that where we are on the south coast, I don’t think there is [as] diverse, so we recognize that local talent is not going to be diverse, so with the emerging talent hubs and our under-21 recruitment strategy, we’ve moved closer to London to try and attract talent,” explained Powell.

When contacted by Telegraph Sport about Powell’s views, an FA spokesman said: “The FA is deeply committed to ensuring that the diversity of those who coach and manage English football truly reflects our modern society. We have been clear about our ambitions and in 2020 we took a proactive step and launched the Football Leadership Diversity Code, which now has over 50 signatories and is focused on increasing gender and ethnic diversity in senior management, team operations and coaching positions.”