Blackpool

Karl Oyston: 'Rooney Rule would be ridiculous'

By Steven Toplis, Reporter | 14 October 2014

Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston says that calls for a system that would force clubs to interview ethnic minority candidates for managerial jobs is an "insult to people in football".

Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston has said that calls for a system that would force clubs to interview ethnic minority candidates for managerial jobs is an "insult to people in football".

The Football League has announced that it will investigate the reasons for the lack of black, Asian and other ethnic groups in management.

John Mann MP has put forward a Parliamentary motion calling for the introduction of a rule similar to the 'Rooney Rule', which governs employment regulations in the NFL, but Oyston believes that it would not work in English football.

"I have to say it's an absolute insult to people in football. To think skin colour is a consideration is ridiculous. Appointments in football have to be on merit and on merit alone," he told the Blackpool Gazette.

"I think the MP is slightly behind the times, as they sometimes can be. If he'd kept up to speed with what football is already doing on this matter, he would have been in a much better position.

"I don't think I've come across any institutional racism in football, certainly not at Blackpool."

There are currently two black managers among the 72 Football League clubs - Chris Powell of Huddersfield Town and Carlisle United's Keith Curle.