Patrick Vieira says he is ‘troubled’ by lack of black coaches at the top level

The absence of black managers in the Premier League and Women’s Super League, according to Patrick Vieira, “troubles” him.

The 46-year-old manager of Crystal Palace was this week named to the Football Black List, which honors black professionals in the sport for their contributions.

In either the men’s or women’s top tier of English football, Vieira is the only black manager currently in charge of a club.

“It troubles me a lot. It’s difficult for me to understand it,” said Vieira.

“I think it just shows there’s still a long way to go.”

The Football Black List, which was first released in 2008, recognizes influential black businesspeople.

In the coaching category, Burnley’s manager Vincent Kompany was recognized, along with Premier League players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Raheem Sterling.

Lianne Sanderson, a pundit and former player for England, was included on the list this year.

According to a survey released in October, only 4.4% of managers were black, compared to 43% of Premier League players and 34% of EFL players.

Additional data revealed that only 1.6% of individuals in managerial, leadership, and ownership positions in football are black, despite 14% of those with the highest coaching credentials—a Uefa pro license—being black.

Les Ferdinand, the director of football for Queens Park Rangers, claimed at the time that the statistics proved the Football Association’s Diversity Code, which was introduced in 2020 to address racial imbalance in the English game, had failed.