Roger Goodell talks about Rooney in London.   

kicking footballNFL (National Football League USA) commissioner Roger Goodell has recently spoken to English Football Association officials about some of the benefits which could help them if they adopted the Rooney Rule designed to create more opportunities for black and minority coaches.

The rule which was established in 2003 requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation opportunities and is often cited as an example of affirmative action.

The English FA and League Managers' Association has spent several months exploring the possibility of emulating the NFL's Rooney Rule.

Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, who pushed for the diversity rule that was eventually named after him, joined Goodell in a meeting with FA officials.

"What that has done is create more opportunities for African-American coaches and other minority coaches to become NFL head coaches because you've had to look at a broader slate of qualified individuals,” he said. “That has been good for our game and also for business. And that was exactly our message to the FA officials."

Goodell was in London for the regular-season NFL game at Wembley Stadium between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears - teams that have black head coaches. In all there are seven black head coaches and one Hispanic coach working in the NFL to-day. In 2003 before Rooney’s Rule was implemented there were only three black coaches.

Contrast that to England's 92 professional clubs over the top four divisions, where there are only two black managers -- Chris Hughton at second-tier Birmingham and Chris Powell at third-tier club Charlton.

As for the Premier League, you guessed it, all 20 managers are white.

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