If Paul Ince replaces Mark Hughes at Blackburn Rovers, he will become the first black English manager in the Barclays Premier League, though Ruud Gullit, with Chelsea and Newcastle United, and Jean Tigana, at Fulham, have managed in the top flight.
Ince’s appointment would send a clear message that English football is beginning to shed its image of being institutionally racist at boardroom level. About 25 per cent of the players at England’s 92 league clubs last season were black, but there were only two black managers - Ince, at Milton Keynes Dons, and Keith Alexander, at Macclesfield Town.
“Paul Ince is providing great encouragement to other black players who are looking to pursue a career in coaching or management,” Brendon Batson, the FA’s equality