Club supports Football Leadership Diversity Code

Tottenham Hotspur is proud to become a founding signatory of the Football Leadership Diversity Code, launched today by The FA to drive diversity and inclusion across English football.

We are one of over 40 clubs across the Premier League, English Football League, Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship committing to tackle inequality across senior leadership positions, broader team operations and coaching roles.

The Code has been developed in collaboration with club executives, players, coaches, HR directors, media and leaders across the game to ensure English football better represents our modern and diverse society. Recognising that clubs and support structures off the pitch do not reflect the increasing gender and ethnic diversity seen on the pitch, it will increase accountability and transparency and will see The FA, key stakeholders and clubs across the men’s and women’s game commit to embedding greater diversity across senior leadership teams, team operations and coaching setups.

The Code focuses on increasing equality of opportunity with hiring targets – rather than quotas – to encourage recruitment from across society. Hiring will be based on merit, to find the best person for the job from diverse talent pipelines. The aim is to move away from recruitment practices focused on personal networks, which is a longstanding challenge across football and has limited the diversity in leadership across the game.

It is viewed as a starting point towards greater diversity and, while focusing on gender and ethnicity now in reflection of the current player base, it will expand more broadly over time.

The Club is proud of its strong track record in ensuring black coaches flourish within our organisation.

Chris Hughton, Chris Ramsey, Les Ferdinand and the late Ugo Ehiogu are among several examples of prominent black coaches who have crafted their trade at Spurs.

This tradition continues into the present day with Ledley King appointed First Team Assistant and Chris Powell appointed Head of Coaching (Under-17 – Under-23) during the summer. Former Academy players Troy Archibald-Henville, Sam Cox, Chris Riley and Anton Blackwood all perform coaching roles within the Club.

The Club is also proud of the diversity that exists among its staff, including Sarah Ebanja – the only black Chief Executive Officer of a football club Foundation in the Premier League.

Through its Foundation, the Club runs a number of projects aimed at promoting inclusion and equality for all, including sport and employability programmes for people with a range of disabilities, girls’ football programmes and educational workshops for local school children around black history. This is particularly important to the Club as the Tottenham area is one of the most ethnically diverse in Europe.

The Club works closely with Proud Lilywhites, its official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, to combat issues relating to homophobia within the game and create a safe and inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fans.

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur, said: “Signing up to the Football Leadership Diversity Code is an important and timely next step in the Club’s ongoing commitment to championing diversity across everything we do.

“We believe the Code will, once and for all, raise the visibility of diversity and inclusion across the game and ensure clubs are truly representative of the communities in which we are embedded.”

Paul Elliott, Chair of The FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board, said: "Many clubs are already doing good work in this area and we have been pleased to see football stand together this year to challenge the injustice we are seeing in society. However, positive and tangible action is required to drive change and take the next step. We believe the introduction of the Football Leadership Diversity Code will signal a long-term change for the English game. The number and stature of clubs that have already agreed to join us on this journey proves that together, with clear goals, transparency and a desire for action, we can shape a better future together. We hope more clubs join us as we move forward."

By signing up to the Football Leadership Diversity Code, clubs pledge to create an equality, diversity and inclusion plan which applies hiring targets while adopting specific recruitment principles. The targets, which will become effective immediately, include:

SENIOR LEADERSHIP AND TEAM OPERATIONS
• 15% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage [or a target set by the club based on local demographics].
• 30% of new hires will be female.

COACHING: MEN’S PROFESSIONAL CLUBS
• 25% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage.
• 10% of new senior coaching hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage.

COACHING: WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL CLUBS
• 50% of new hires will be female.
• 15% of new hires will be Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage.

RECRUITMENT
• Shortlists for interview will have at least one male and one female Black, Asian or of Mixed-Heritage candidate, if applicants meeting the job specifications apply.