29 Nov 2017
New research examining the under-representation of BAME coaches in professional football
Loughborough academic Dr Steven Bradbury will be presenting new research findings on the levels of representation and experiences of black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) coaches in professional football this week.
Dr Bradbury, from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, will be speaking at the international Play the Game conference in Eindhoven and at a special event in London on November 29 and 30 respectively.
These presentations will draw on Dr Bradbury’s prior and ongoing research with UEFA, the Football Against Racism in Europe Network, the FA, and the Sports People’s Think Tank.
They will also mark the launch of the fourth of five annual reviews designed to monitor upward or downward trends in the ethnic diversity of the professional football coaching workforce in England over time, which can be viewed here.
Dr Bradbury said: “These annual reviews are one small part of a series of wider studies focusing on the experiences of BAME coaches in professional football, and the shape, scope and effectiveness of new positive action measures designed to establish more inclusive practices in coach education and coach recruitment.
“For example, ongoing evaluation of the FA BAME coach bursary programme has helped to identify and inform models of good equality practice which can be transferred to other areas of sport. In this respect, sociological research of this kind has an important and powerful role to play in addressing discrimination and promoting inclusivity in sport and beyond.”
In recent years Dr Bradbury has presented on research findings on this topic to a range of academic, stakeholder and government audiences, including at international sociology of sport conferences, UEFA diversity in football seminars, the All-Party Parliamentary Football Committee at the House of Commons and to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Dr Bradbury also recently featured as part of a panel discussion on the under-representation of BAME coaches at the global Soccerex event in Manchester.