Taylor saddened by need for 'Rooney Rule' in English football

Former England manager Graham Taylor says it is a shame the Football League are having to implement the 'Rooney Rule' to boost the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)  managers in English football.

The Football League confirmed on Thursday that its 72 clubs back a number of proposals aimed at increasing employment opportunities for BAME coaches.

Under the plans, clubs will be obligated to interview one BAME candidate for each head coach or manager role from the 2016-17 season.

It is a move inspired by the NFL, which introduced the rule in 2003 and named it after the measure's architect, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney.

Taylor last month rejected claims the Football Association (FA) tried to limit the number of black players in the England squad during his tenure from 1990 to 1993.

And he told Perform: "You could almost argue it's a shame that they've had to come to this.

"My own personal point of view, and I can say this with a lot of confidence because people only have to look at my career as a manager, you pick a player on his ability not on the colour of his skin.

"I find it embarrassing to have to talk about this. From my own personal point of view, I'm not going to get involved, people know where I stand, you only have to look at my career as a manager, the number of black people that were selected in my teams."

Graham Taylor was speaking in his role as a Football Foundation Ambassador at the opening of a new third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch (AGP) at the Belper Leisure Centre, Derbyshire. The pitch was made possible thanks to a £207,221 grant from the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund, a three-year £102m commitment to improving the UK's grassroots football facilities.
 
The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, is funded by the Premier League, the FA, and the Government, via Sport England. It is delivered by the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity.

Graham Taylor is an Ambassador for the Football Foundation who are celebrating their 15-year anniversary. Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has supported 13,000 grassroots sport projects with grants worth £520m and leveraged £736m in additional partnership funding, thereby delivering schemes with a total project cost of £1.24bn into the grassroots game.