Former Stoke City star Garth Crooks hits out at Football League chairman over 'Rooney Rule'

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GARTH Crooks has hit out at Football League chairman Greg Clarke and says he should "consider his position" after claims of a "hidden resistance" to more black managers.

Chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, Gordon Taylor said Clarke did not bring up the 'Rooney Rule' at the Football League's AGM, having "promised" to do so.

The 'Rooney Rule' was established in 2003 and named after Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chairman of the NFL's diversity committee and requires NFL teams to interview at least one black or ethnic minority candidate for head coaching and senior football operation opportunities.

However, Clarke said he did intend to raise the Rooney Rule at the AGM and propose a trial within one division. But he explained that the club director who was going to put forward the proposal lost his seat on the League's board when his club were relegated.

But Crooks, a former Stoke City player who was born in the Potteries, criticised Clarke for his stance and accused him of 'bottling it'.

In his role as an Independent Trustee for Kick It Out and the Professional Footballers’ Association, Crooks said: "Gordon Taylor has come out on behalf of his members to highlight what he describes as “hidden resistance” in the professional game towards appointing black managers.

"This is a remarkable accusation from one of the game’s leading executives. He actually accuses Greg Clarke, Chairman of the Football League, of reneging on a commitment to raise the Rooney Rule at the Football League AGM.

"If this is true then Greg Clarke has done the game a terrible disservice and should consider his position.

"Black footballers are supposed to be part of the structure of the game but how can that be true if the game itself is not even prepared to acknowledge their existence at the highest level.

"Let’s be clear here, what we are actually talking about is giving a player an interview.

"Jason Roberts, who recently retired from playing, said the fact we have only two black managers in the professional game and didn’t have any at the start of the season was a 'shocking statistic' and he’s absolutely right.

"The situation now is if the game’s leading figures are not going to do anything to correct this current malaise then Premier League and Football League players will have to get involved and apply pressure.

"It’s no use Gordon and Jason shouting in the wilderness, this kind of change is only going to come about if the game’s top players regardless of colour or creed get involved and demand that the leaders of the game do something about this appalling state of affairs."