Football “must act” to give minorities top jobs,

Streatham MP and Shadow Business Secretary, Chuku Umunna, called on football clubs to give more chances to black and ethnic minority personal.

Mr Umunna stated it was a "disgrace" that black and Asian players made up a quarter of players in the Football League however only 2% were managers and none were directors.

The 35-year-old said it was time the Football League adopted the 'Rooney Rule', named after the American footballer Dan Rooney, that requires US sports clubs to interview at least one black or minority ethnic candidate for a management position.

In a speech to mark Black History Month, Mr Umunna claimed little had changed since his father was a board member at Crystal Palace in 1992.

                          

He said: "He was, as far as I’m aware, the only African director on the board of any Premier League Club at the time. Things haven’t changed much in 22 years.

"Look at Premier League clubs now and you'll see most have no people of colour on their boards or in any senior roles.

"We can’t carry on like this, this has to change. Can we really say to our young people that we rate their physical ability more than their other talents?"

The Labour MP said the 'Rooney Rule' had made a “real difference” in American Football and should be taken up by the Football League.

Mr Umunna continued: "Voices from both inside and outside the game, including Players Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor, have said there is a strong case for examining this proposal and whether it can be introduced in English football.

"Personally, I have a lot of sympathy for this and would think it deserves consideration."

Football has a “hidden resistance” to hiring black managers according to Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor.

PFA chief executive, Gordon Taylor, stated the Football League failed to fulfill a “promise” to discuss the 'Rooney Rule', with the intention of introducing it in the United Kingdom.

The rule has helped increase the number of black coaches in America's National Football League.

Mr Taylor believes more need to be done to integrate black and ethnic minorities into the beautiful game.

"You see so many black players on the pitch, yet we have two black managers out of 92", he said.

Mr Taylor continued: “There is a hidden resistance preventing black managers getting jobs. We approached the Football League in the first place.

"Greg Clarke, the chairman of the Football League, promised to bring the 'Rooney Rule' up at their annual general meeting and for one reason or another - the issue was not even raised.

"The whole recruitment process needs to be more professional, more diverse and equality-wise, fairer. We've struggled to do that."
                 
                             

There was five black managers in English professional football last season.

They were Chris Hughton, Chris Powell, Paul Ince, Chris Kiwomya and Edgar Davids - however Powell is the only one currently in managing in the Football League.

Currently Chris Powell at Huddersfield and Carlisle's Keith Curle are the only black managers currently employed within the 92 clubs in the Premier League and Football League.

Former Reading, West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers striker Jason Roberts said the lack of black managers in football was "shocking".

Roberts, who is a pundit for the British Broadcast Corporation, added: "At the moment things are getting worse, last season we had three or four black managers in the game - we went into this season with none.

"It has been about 30 years since black players were involved in the game en masse and I think we are now at the point where we have to go to the government and go open and public on this."

Roberts responded to Gordon Taylor's comments by claiming there had been a "lack of leadership" from governing bodies to tackle the issue.

Huddersfield manager Chris Powell is one of two black managers in the Football League this season.

Below is an explanation of the 'Rooney Rule':

"The Rooney Rule was established in 2003 and named after Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chairman of the NFL's diversity committee. It requires NFL teams to interview at least one black or ethnic minority candidate for head coaching and senior football operation opportunities that become available, as part of a transparent and open recruitment process."

According to PFA's statistics, 18% of players on their coaching courses are black or from other ethnic minorities. There are 192 UEFA Pro Licence owners in England and 14 of those are black coaches.

Everything you need to know: 2014/15 Premier League preview.

The wait is over, after 97 days the Premier League is back!

Last season was one of the best in it's 22 year history and the 2014/15 season could be even better.

Defending champions Manchester City spent £50 million in pre-season on Bruno Zuculini, Willy Caballero, Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando. Chelsea legend Frank Lampard joined on loan (from New York City FC) and former Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna signed on a free transfer. City have never retained the league title in their history and should be considered favorites this season.

Last seasons runners up Liverpool lost their star man and the league's top scorer Luis Suarez to Barcelona, how his replacements get on will determine what kind of campaign they have.

Adam Lallana, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic represent good signings but replacing Suarez is a tall order. The Reds are in the Champions League again for the first time since 2009/10 and that fact could have a bearing on where they finish in the league, getting into the top four will be considered a good season for them.

Jose Mourinho has added top quality to his squad in Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas. Didier Drogba has come 'home' and the return of Thibaut Courtois (he spent three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid) is a bonus as Petr Cech showed signs of vulnerability last season. John Terry has signed a contract extension and they won't miss Ashley Cole as Luis Filipe is a class replacement, Chelsea will run Manchester City very close in the title race.

Another pre-season, another captain has departed the FA Cup holders. Thomas Vermaelen has joined Barcelona leaving Arsenal short of defensive cover.

Alexis Sanchez is a great addition and David Ospina will provide competition for Wojciech Szczesny but the lack of a clinical striker needs to be addressed (before the transfer window closes on September 1st) if Arsenal are to win the league for the first time since 2003/04.

The return of Theo Walcott will be a big boost for the Gunners and Mesut Ozil will be better in his second season in the Premier League, a top four place is guaranteed.

All eyes at Goodison Park will be on £28million man Romelu Lukaku. The Belgium international has made his loan move from Chelsea permanent and scored 15 goals in 31 games last term.

With a new contract and a World Cup appearance under his belt, Ross Barkley has a big future ahead of him. The 20-year-old possess immense talent and will need to shine if Everton want to improve on their 5th place finish last season.

No £100million spending spree for Tottenham Hotspurs this summer, so it's time for players like Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela to prove their worth. The Lily Whites did splash out £25m on Michael Vorm, Eric Dier, DeAndre Yedlin, Frederico Fazio and Benjamin Stamboli.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Christian Eriksen had fine seasons last time out and new manager Mauricio Pochettino will hope their form continues. They don't have a big enough squad to compete for both domestic and Europa league's competitions so a FA or League cup win will be a good season for Spurs.

Things can only get better at Manchester United after their abysmal 2013/14 season.

Their new manager Louis van Gaal will hope to restore pride in the Old Trafford dressing room and get the Red Devils back into the Champions League.

Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera are brilliant signings but recruiting  a combative midfielder is a necessity. They also need to sign a center-back or two as Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have left.

New captain Wayne Rooney will blossom in the role and a fit Robin van Persie will ensure United will be competitive again.

New manager Ronald Koeman will hope he can keep Southampton in the league after they lost most of their squad during pre-season. Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren and Calum Chambers are just a few names who departed the Saints but Shane Long, Ryan Bertrand and Florin Gardos are decent replacements.

Stoke achieved their highest ever finish in the Premier League last season (9th) and Mark Hughes will want to build on that. Bojan Kricic can either be the signing of the summer or he will follow the pattern of his career since he was billed as the “next big thing” at Barcelona and be a disappointment.

Alan Pardew will hope to stay out of the limelight in 2014/15. He was banned from stadiums for three games and the touchline for four matches last season after headbutting Hull's David Meyler.

New signings Siem De Jong and Remy Cabella will help fill the void left by Yohan Cabaye's departure in January.

It was a quiet summer for Crystal Palace until Tony Pulis left the club by "mutual consent" on Thursday. It is rumored Pulis left after falling out with chairman Steve Parish over transfers, they have only spent money on two players.

Pulis will be a huge loss to the Eagles, he took over when they were bottom of the league and helped them to a decent 11th place. They might struggle to stay up without his guile and experience.

Swansea's only target for this season will be remaining in the Premier League as they flirted with relegation towards the end of last season.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Baferimbi Gomis are good players but losing Michel Vorm and Michu (on loan) could come back to haunt them, keeping Wilfried Bony at the Liberty is vital to their survival hopes.

After achieving a "miracle" last season to beat the drop, Gus Poyet's Sunderland will hope to move up the table but a repeat of the double over fierce rivals Newcastle will make their fans happy. If he realises his potential, Jack Rodwell will be one of the bargains of the summer.

Speculation was rampant during the summer that West Ham were going to "part company" with manager Sam Allardyce but he stayed. His team are expected to play more entertaining football and the capture of Ecuador's World Cup star Enner Valencia (he scored three goals in Brazil) will help achieve that.

If Ravel Morrison can focus on football he will be an asset to his team and the appointment of Teddy Sheringham as an attacking coach could prove a master stroke. A mid-table finish is in the horizon.

Ron Vlaar's reputation sky rocketed after a fantastic World Cup so it is important Aston Villa keep hold of him.

The additions of experienced campaigners like Philippe Senderos, Joe Cole and Kieran Richardson will add a little nous to Villa's young squad in a season where they may just need it.

New assistant manager Roy Keane will do his best to make sure Villa push for a place in Europe this season.

Hull qualified for Europe for the first time ever last season (FA Cup runners up) and it will be interesting to see how they cope with the demands of playing Thursday-Sunday.

West Bromwich Albion and promoted teams Queens Park Rangers, Burnley and Leicester City will hope to stay in the division.

All good things come to an end...

They say records are meant to be broken and as a Manchester United fan, I have seen many of them shattered this season, it's a part of life.

Nothing stays the same forever and there are only a few certainties in life, death, taxes and The Undertaker winning at WrestleMania.

Not anymore. It's like the home banker in your football accumulator, the result you have no doubt about, you just know that team is going to win, you don't consider any other result.

Last night history was made, The Deadman lost at WrestleMania.

                    

A sentence that every wrestling fan thought they would never see written, he was defeated by The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar.

Taker was 21-0 going into this match and all the build up towards this collision pointed to him going 22-0.

The action itself was slow, plodding and it seemed the 75,165 fans inside the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans were expecting The Undertaker to defeat Lesnar and go onto WrestleMania 31 still undefeated for his rumored dream match with Sting. However anything can happen in the WWE and as Lesnar struck the F-5 for the third time, the referee's hand hit the mat for the pinfall, 21-1 The Streak was over.

A collective gasp filled the arena and The Streak was over, you could hear a pin drop. The stunned crowd needed at least three minutes to realise what had happened as they looked on in sheer disbelief. All types of emotions were on display as the fans in unison applauded The Demon Of Death Valley as he left the ring and headed backstage.

With that victory, Lesnar etched his place in WWE history and his credentials cannot be questioned.

He won the King Of The Ring in 2002, the Royal Rumble in 2003 and became the youngest WWE champion in history when he defeated The Rock at SummerSlam that year. He is a three time WWE champion and has been involved in brilliant matches with the late great Eddie Guerrero, The Big Show Triple H, Kurt Angle and CM Punk.

However since returning to the WWE in April 2012 after quitting in 2004 to play American Football he has been a part-timer, wrestling only seven times in two years, he has no real commitment to the WWE. His new slogan is 'Eat, sleep, break the streak' but it could be 'Eat, sleep, collect a huge cheque, repeat'. Did a part-timer really deserve to end the legendary streak? What does Lesnar's career gain from being the '1' in '21-1'??

If Vince McMahon and The Undertaker decided to end The Streak, a up and comer or a established star on the full-time roster would have been a better option or if it's not broke, don't fix it. They should have agreed to leave The Streak intact.

Triple H, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels and Kane have all fallen to Taker at WrestleMania. They are men who love the wrestling industry and the WWE.

Shawn Michaels had his career cut short due to injuries sustained in the ring, he paid the ultimate price for being a WWE superstar. Michaels is by far Taker's greatest WrestleMania opponent, the matches they had at WrestleMania XXV and XXVI are in the top ten greatest matches of all time. Not only did they clash at WrestleMania they also the first ever Hell In A Cell match at Bad Blood in 1997, they were great rivals, surely he would have been the ideal man to end The Streak.

When Orton faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21 he was in the middle of a great run as the Legend Killer and a victory against The Undertaker in that match would have been sensational for Orton, he could have built the foundations of his career on the basis of that victory.

It had been reported that Kane was offered the chance to end The Streak at WrestleMania XX but turned it down as he did not feel worthy enough to do so, that shows what type of man he is. The Big Red Machine and The Undertaker are very close in real life but that accolade was to much for him to hold he respectfully declined the offer.

Triple H is a student of the game and faced The Undertaker three times at WrestleMania, he loves the WWE and will take over the company when Vince McMahon retires - second to Michaels he would have been a great choice to end The Streak.

The Streak does not define Taker, he has been in the WWE since 1990 and will be in the Hall Of Fame sooner rather than later, but it was a huge part of his legacy and separated him from other Hall Of Famers.

The Streak had been a highlight of the Show Of Shows since 1991 when The Undertyaker defeated Jimmy Snuka and the event will never be the same again.

As The Undertaker's career began to lose momentum, his matches at WrestleMania were all his fans had to look forward too.

In the build up to his match with The Undertaker, at WrestleMania XXVII, Triple H stated that "when The Streak dies the The Undertaker dies to". Hopefully this is not the case and Taker has one more WrestleMania match left in him.

Mark Callaway must have a tremendous amount of respect for Brock Lesnar. The honour and prestige of beating The Undertaker on The Grandest Stage Of Them All cannot be underestimated.

The Streak had become an institution, a WrestleMania tradition and something that will never be repeated but sadly The Streak is dead. Long live The Streak.

Fans and Supporters...

On Sunday 12^th May 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson stood on the Old Trafford turf after his last home game against Swansea and declared, “I'd like to remind you that when we had bad times here the club stood by me, all the staff stood by me, the players stood by me – your job now is to stand by our new manager. That is important.”

This unforunately has not been the case, 11 months after that passionate speech his replacement David Moyes has gone from being the 'Chosen One' by Sir Alex to the 'Wrong One' by some sections of Manchester United fans.

After hand picking Moyes as his own successor, Sir Alex expected the fans to rally behind Moyes and give him time and support while he took on what had been called 'the impossible job'. The last thing Sir Alex could have expected was the fans to turn on him and Moyes in such a unrelenting manner. It has been on social media groups with the #MoyesOut campaign, radio phone ins and a fan groups. Fans have been calling for Moyes to be sacked and he has not even completed a season at Old Trafford yet.

The fact that some United fans took the time and effort to hire a plane to fly over Old Trafford last Saturday and display a message proclaiming they wanted 'Moyes Out' shows that they have ignored what Sir Alex had asked of them on that unforgettable day in May last year. Those type of fans are probably the same ones who held up the now infamous '3 years of excuses and it's still crap, tara Fergie' banner in 1989 when Sir Alex was struggling and facing calls to be replaced. I wonder how that gentleman felt when United won the treble in 1999.

United fans have be spoilt in the past two decades and have known nothing but success in that period, however Manchster United supporters remember when United were relegated in 1974, finishing in mid table in the old division one and when the club had to build a whole new team after the tragic Munich Air Disaster in 1958. Different era's and generation indeed but it is important to know the history of the club you follow.

That is the difference, these so called fans are the same people that had the termerity to heckle Sir Alex after the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford last Tuesday, the man who brought all that glory, honour and prestige to the club being abused by people who should know better, disgraceful! Anger and fustrations are running high at the moment but insulting the players, current and pervious manager is conterproductive and the team this season look like they they have been scared to play at Old Trafford as one bad pass or a shot off target will lead to moans and groans from the stands.

In life, tough times do not last but tough people do and before kick off at Old Trafford last Saturday Moyes emergered from the tunnel early with his chest pushed out and his head held high as to say to the crowd 'I'm here, give me all you got' and thankfully he was applauded and United went on to win the game against Aston Villa comfortably. That's what a good atmostphere can do to everybodies confidence, also the banner that had the 'Moyes Out' slogan was roundly booed by the supporters inside Old Trafford.

Football crowds can be a fickle bunch, just look at the West Ham fans who inexplicably booed the team after a home VICTORY against Hull last Wednesday, they need to remember they were in the Championship during 2011-12.

The juggernaut that is Bayern Munich travel to Old Trafford tomorrow and it is imperative that everybody is behind the team and manager as soon as the turnstiles open, supporters can often be a 12^th man but against Munich they might need to be the 13^th and 14^th as well. With a bit of luck and unmatched desire I'm sure United can come away with a postitve result from a tough game.