Help Ensure The Football Black List Continues To Shine
Recipients of FBL awards in the Community section
Nominations for the Football Black List 2018 are officially open and we are excited about who the initiative – which is 10 years old this year – will help to shine a light on.
Managers, coaches, senior administrators, players, community and grassroots heroes, fans, campaigners, practitioners, lawyers and journalists have comprised the lists since 2008 – highlighting the incredible contribution of black people to the game.
The initiative is now high profile, widely recognised and supported by the game at all levels – as well as the community. We are very proud of how far the Football Black List has come. However, we want to ensure the list continues to flourish and remains relevant and inclusive.
An immediate improvement is addressing noticeable under- representation in some areas of the list. For example, since Uriah Rennie retired in 2009 we haven’t seen a referee included. This is something I will write about in more detail over the coming weeks – but where are the black refs? Do we really not have one across professional football? If that is the case, should the initiative be highlighting the next highest ranking official?
Another area where representation on the list has been low is in the board room. Dame Heather Rabbatts has been our highest ranking club official over – when she was Executive Deputy Chair of Millwall Football Club. In that time we have had very few other board members at clubs featured on the list, underlining the challenge ahead for the community in this area.
We also want the list to be more diverse. Encouragingly, the numbers of women has increased over the years but there is still some way to go. And while we have been pleased to see those with disabilities and members of the LGBT community on the list, we still want to see much greater diversity.
Of course, the challenges we face with the list only highlight where the black community is in the game. We don’t have significant representation at board level or in refereeing, and football still lacks a genuinely diverse workforce. The Football Black List, by highlighting the range of jobs in the game and role models to aspire to, is a proactive response in helping to address this.
But to create the most inclusive and genuinely representative list we need nominations that are reflective of the outstanding individuals across the game. We won’t know everyone out there – particularly at community and grassroots level. So please do not be shy.
Judging the nominations and pulling together the Football Black List is a huge challenge that has never been easy. This year we want the community and football family to give the panel of judges their hardest task ever.
Get nominating and let’s highlight and celebrate those leading the way!
HOW TO NOMINATE
ANYONE can be nominated for the Football Black List. They just need to work or be active in football. You can even nominate yourself.
The categories for nominations are: Administration, Community and Grassroots, Players (for Off the field work), Media, Practitioners, Coaching and Management, Commercial and Ugo Ehiogu’s Ones To Watch (Under 30 and excellent).
Email nominations to info@footballblacklist.com
CLOSING DATE: 27th April 2018