Arseblog - an in-depth look at Arsenal Women’s lack of ethnic diversity
This is a good long read on the issues around diversity in Women’s football in England, and puts the recent furor over the Arsenal squad photo in context. I am once again in awe of Alex Scott for how she’s managed to thrive in spite of the barriers she’s had to push past.
There’s truly a broader systemic problem with getting young POC players into the system and thrive…
But I do feel like our situation did have more to do with recruitment by our senior squad…bloody hell even Brighton are more diverse and global than our squad. I do feel like because Arsenal has a history as a more inclusive club that this situation gets highlighted more.
I’ll get downvoted, but Jonas…there ARE talent outside of Northern Europe.
I think it’s pretty clear that Jonas’s recruitment has made the squad less diverse and this is a large part of the problem. Better scouting and a less manager-driven recruitment process would be nice.
I’m always suspicious of managers who seem to recruit from leagues they’re familiar with or clubs they used to manage. Look at Ten Hag for Man Utd men’s team, same problem that Jonas has.
Very good read. Overall I don’t think after reading that that the club are intentionally being racist, which is good (and the bare minimum). But we need to be scouting more, looking for talents that can make it in the senior squad and provide things that we lack. And while a coincidence that there’s none in this year’s squad, it’s not one that there has been a decline overall in PoC across the board, and it’s a problem that needs to be solved. Very glad that the club are addressing this (or at least trying to).
