The third annual report of the Football Leadership Diversity Code has recently been published by The Football Association (FA). This Code, which was first introduced in 2020, aims to address inequality prevalent within senior leadership positions, team operations, and coaching roles in English professional football.
The latest report reveals the progress made by The FA, Premier League, and EFL in their pursuit of achieving diversity targets. Despite this progress, the hiring rates within English professional football clubs are only marginally higher than the existing workforce diversity, indicating a slow pace of change. As a response to this, the FA Board has agreed to create a new FA Rule, which would necessitate all professional clubs in the English leagues to report comprehensive data on age, sex, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation within their organizations from the commencement of the 2024/25 season.
The FA Chief Executive, Mark Bullingham, has emphasized the necessity for hastened progress and heightened transparency through mandatory diversity reporting. Co-founder of The FA’s Football Leadership Diversity Code, Paul Elliott, has also underscored the Code as a collective endeavor to instigate change. Furthermore, the Premier League and EFL have expressed their support for workforce diversity and inclusion.
The results of the report signify the ongoing need to address the prevalence of inequality within English professional football. The introduction of mandatory disclosure as a compulsory practice is being viewed as the next step in this initiative. This mandatory diversity reporting will complement and bolster the ongoing positive efforts being made in this crucial area of the sport.
The EFL, in alignment with the evolving Football Leadership Diversity Code, is striving to ensure that its clubs are reflective of the communities they represent and is committed to the broader goal of diversifying football’s workforce at all levels. In the context of the women’s game, the Code has paved the way for the advancement of women’s coaching and has resulted in a notable increase in the hiring of female coaches.
In conclusion, the release of the Year 3 report on the Football Leadership Diversity Code encapsulates both progress and challenges in the pursuit of diversity targets. It underscores the continuous efforts being made and the imperative for mandatory diversity reporting to instigate positive change in English football.