Tranmere Rovers' Wayne Allison has spent 40 years in English football, first as a player with the likes of Huddersfield Town, Bristol City, Swindon Town, Sheffield United, Chesterfield, and then coached at various clubs in the EFL. He has watched the disconnect between the predominantly white faces in football boardrooms and the diverse players on the pitch quietly grow into something the game can no longer ignore. Allison, who holds a PhD, the UEFA Pro Licence, and has published works, is arguably the most credentialed former professional footballer working within a senior position in the English professional game today. He is also one of the only people of colour doing so at this level and that, he argues, is not an accident. English football as a collective has a responsibility, Allison says. The contrast in football is stark: there is huge diversity on the pitch and yet very few opportunities for non-white faces in boardrooms, senior roles at clubs or among the game's major stakeholders. Football is trying to address the issue but, while former players can move into the media or coaching, there are fewer jobs as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Football Officer (CFO), Technical Directors (TD) or within the game itself. Even worse, the lack of diversity within senior roles at clubs often means football shareholders' meetings are made up of entirely white faces sitting round making decisions for players who could not be more detached from their world. It is something Allison is acutely aware of but the bright, intelligent and eloquent Yorkshireman believes there is an even bigger issue which football needs to grasp. You have to align governance, performance culture and also inclusive pathways and improve better outcomes for the teams, he says. But ultimately, it is about the communities we serve. If football does not reflect the players on the pitch, the communities or the fans then how can they say they understand or represent the wider issues? You should not have players on the pitch who look up at the directors in the stadium and say: 'where are we?' Equally, the fans in the stadium should be asking questions: 'where is the representation in the clubs?' It is similar to managing and coaching. It is not about tokenism. We have got to understand that. This is about aligning the leadership team with the people they actually represent from the players on the pitch to the communities they serve. There is talent available across ethnically diverse groups, there are a lot of capable people. We all know that and I've seen that at first hand. There's talent out there, it's about the pathway into these roles. Senior roles