VIV Anderson claims England must lead the way in stamping out racism against young black bosses by handing one a job with the national team.
The former Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Manchester United full-back fears they are being discriminated against by chairmen up and down the country.
But he insists that would quickly change if England promoted someone such as Andy Cole or Les Ferdinand to the Three Lions coaching staff. Anderson, capped 30 times by his country, said: “I think there’s a dearth of black managers and coaches. Paul Ince is the only one around right now at MK Dons.
“But I think the problem is with the owners and the chairmen. They’re the ones that hire and fire.
“They tend to go for foreign managers who have good reputations abroad. “But I think there are good English managers who are not given a chance.
“When you see a great player like Andy Cole, who’s played for his country, not being given a chance to manage, it amazes me.
“Think of the knowledge he could instil into the other players with all his experience of playing for Manchester United and England.
“Andy and Les Ferdinand are doing their coaching badges and are trying to get on in the game, and hopefully in the next generation there will be a few more. But I think they need to be brought into the England set-up .”
Anderson was a trailblazer for black players during the 1970s and 80s, winning the league title, two European Cups and two League Cups in 10 years with Forest . He then won the League Cup again with the Gunners.
He became player/boss of Barnsley and was also Bryan Robson’s assistant at Middlesbrough before becoming a goodwill ambassador for the FA.
When he started his career, it was possible to count the number of black players in English football on the fingers of one hand.
Now they are commonplace – and Anderson hopes the same will one day be true for black managers.
He said: “When I started, there was Clyde Best and Brendon Batson. That was it.
“But you look at it now, and most clubs have a black face in the squad.
“Hopefully we played our part there, and the next stage is for them to bridge the gap and get into management.
“Because Keith Alexander at Macclesfi eld died recently, we’re talking about one black manager at this moment in time, and that’s Paul Ince.
“In 15 years’ time, I certainly hope there’s more than one!
“It shouldn’t be about the colour of your skin.
“It should be about whether you’ve got the qualifications, whether they’re good enough – and they should be given the opportunity to prove that."
