English FA demanded Graham Taylor not to pick too many black players for England

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The Football Association tried to impose an unofficial quota system on the number of black players an England manager should be allowed to use, according to a new book about racism within the sport.

Pitch Black, written by Emy Onuora, includes a passage in which an anti-racism in football campaigner claims Graham Taylor admitted to him he had been summoned by two members of the FA’s hierarchy and told “in no uncertain terms” he should not go beyond a certain limit.

There is absolutely no suggestion that Taylor, with a long history of working with some of England’s leading black players over the past 30 years, adhered to this policy but the book recounts him saying there were senior figures trying to put pressure on him to keep the team predominantly white.

Taylor is said to have revealed this during a function at Watford’s ground during the 1999-2000 season when Richie Moran was the guest speaker. Moran, a Birmingham City player in the 1990s who eventually quit the game because of the racial abuse he suffered, recalls in the book: “Graham Taylor came up to me and said: ‘Look, I’m going to tell you something … I’m never going to admit it, I will be sued for libel.’ He said: ‘When I was manager of England I was called in by two members of the FA, who I won’t name …’ I volunteered two names. He said: ‘I’m not prepared to say, but I was told in no uncertain terms not to pick too many black players for the national side.’”

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