The ongoing education of players, managers, directors, Council and committee members and representation at board level were just some of themes discussed at the latest Inclusion Advisory Board meeting at Wembley Stadium this week.
IAB chair, Heather Rabbatts, led the group in reflecting on some of events of the last few months, including the ministerial roundtable on BAME managers, International Women’s Day and the Football v Homophobia month of action.
She said: “After the launch of the Inclusion & Anti-Discrimination plan in January, this area of work continues at pace. The next steps of the Coach bursary scheme and the ongoing success of the governance training scheme, On The Board are things the group can influence.
“Football coaches don’t exist in a vacuum. When we talk about representation, we refer to the whole landscape of the game from managers and coaches, to those individuals working in technology, commercial and marketing departments and so on.
“So, issues like recruitment are so important and the game needs to constantly check and challenge itself as to how it gets the best people from a range of backgrounds, both male and female, making a positive contribution to the game.”
A positive example raised was at County FA level where Birmingham is openly recruiting for three non-executive directors with the details being advertised and shared across a range of diverse communities.
The next Inclusion Advisory Board meets in July.
