FA to hold talks with Thomas Tuchel over black or minority ethnic England coaches
The Football Association will speak to the incoming England head coach Thomas Tuchel over whether his new-look England backroom team will include a black or minority ethnic (BME) coach.
Interim manager Lee Carsley revealed that Ashley Cole would return to the Under-21s with him after this England camp, leaving a question mark over whether there will be a BME coach in the senior set-up with Tuchel.
Tuchel is close to finalising his backroom team, with the FA expecting it to be confirmed in the coming weeks. Talks are scheduled to be held over the inclusion of a BME coach to follow in the footsteps of Chris Powell, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and most recently Cole and Joleon Lescott, who has also been part of Carsley’s interim staff.
Under the FA and Professional Footballers’ Association’s Elite Coaching Placement Programme (ECCP), launched in 2018, England teams across all levels are committed to offering opportunities to ethnic minority individuals, with a view to increasing diversity throughout top-level football.
Ex-England international Powell was appointed to former manager Gareth Southgate’s coaching staff in 2019 and worked at the delayed European Championship in 2021 and the 2022 World Cup.
Powell stepped down the following year and was replaced in Southgate’s staff by former Chelsea striker Hasselbaink, who was a popular member of the backroom team during Euro 2024 in Germany.
The FA confirmed that Hasselbaink left his position after Southgate stood down as England manager, while Paul Nevin, who worked with the senior squad, took charge of the Elite League squad (formerly the Under-20s).
Failure to include a BME coach on Tuchel’s staff for the 2026 World Cup campaign could prompt questions over the FA’s commitment to providing top-level opportunities at a time when the governing body has faced debate over the decision to appoint a foreign England manager.
Tuchel will have an English assistant, Anthony Barry, with him when he starts work officially on Jan 1 and wants Portuguese goalkeeper coach Henrique Hilario to join him. Chelsea do not want Hilario to share his club duties with an international job, which means they do not favour a part-time deal.