• Sports People’s Think Tank figures reveal 4.1% are employed • Wolves ignored the process twice in last year, authors claim

Two years after it called for a target of one in five coaches to come from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background by the end of the decade, new research commissioned by the Sports People’s Think Tank has revealed barely any progress towards that goal.

Figures compiled by Loughborough University show that despite initiatives from the Football League, Premier League and Football Association to increase diversity, the percentage of BAME coaches in senior positions remains only 4.1%.

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The research took 1 September as its cut-off date, so the recent sacking of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink by Queens Park Rangers – also the only first-team coach recruited during the period – will have further reduced the figure.

The comparable figure 12 months ago was 4.2% and the authors of the report, commissioned by the SPTT and the European anti-discrimination network Fare, said the figures were “disappointing”.

“The data continues to show that if you are from a BAME background and aspire to be a manager or a coach, you are at a disadvantage,” it said. “The objective for us is to see progress made. The statistics show there is very little of that at this stage.”

The report notes that there has been “unprecedented progress” in the Football League, where a recruitment code has been introduced to promote positive action at academy level and a voluntary scheme across 10 clubs at first-team level.

It called for an independent body to monitor progress and, if necessary, make a case for action against those who do not follow the recruitment procedures under which clubs are expected to interview at least one BAME candidate for any first‑team managerial or coaching role where they run a full recruitment process.

The authors claimed that one club among the 10 who agreed to participate in the Football League’s pilot, Wolverhampton Wanderers, ignored the agreed process when recruiting first Walter Zenga and then Paul Lambert. In response, the EFL released a statement which said that Wolves had “complied fully with the code” in appointing Lambert.

“After the previous appointment of Walter Zenga, during the close season, the EFL contacted the club to seek a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding that appointment,” read the statement.

“In its response, the club pointed to the exceptional circumstances of the club being subject to a change of control with the new owners wanting to appoint a specific manager as part of their plans for the takeover of the club. This has since been explained to other stakeholder organisations including the FA, PFA and LMA.

“The EFL reminded the club of the commitment it had made and sought assurances that it remained committed to the code going forward. These were received and clearly put into action during Wolves’ subsequent managerial appointment process.”

The Premier League, meanwhile, has launched a scheme to bring through more BAME coaches at academy level while the FA is investing £1.4m over the next five seasons to get more aspiring coaches from BAME communities into the licensed coaching system at elite level.

Dr Steven Bradbury, who compiled the report, also noted a lack of joined up thinking between the game’s various governing bodies as a barrier to progress.

“Most worryingly, our networks of BAME coaches looking for employment report that identifying where there are job opportunities across the game is a huge barrier,” it said.

“In short there is very little co-ordination across the game to turn the good ‘pipeline’ work into BAME coaches in elite coaching roles. Why are the authorities not working more closely together?”

The report found that the figures for elite coaches remained significantly below the percentage of BAME players (25%) and within the UK population more broadly (14%). It also found that a large number of BAME coaches were clustered around a handful of clubs, including QPR and Brighton & Hove Albion. There are no BAME first-team managers in the Premier League and following Hasselbaink’s sacking, now only two (Chris Hughton and Keith Curle) in the Football League.

Heather Rabbatts, the only woman and the only director from a BAME background on the FA board, told the Guardian this year that she believed progress was being made but accepted it was slower than many would like.

“I think there is now sufficient accountability on what needs to happen that it doesn’t get lost sight of. We would all like the momentum to be faster than it is,” she said in May. “But football is still very much a closed system, so you’re trying to prise open the doors of opportunity.”

She insisted that progress had been made across several fronts – including the introduction of coaching mentors in the England coaching structure, a new voluntary code of conduct for the Football League that should ensure more opportunities for BAME coaches and initiatives by the Premier League to increase the number of BAME coaches achieving professional qualifications.