Kev: There is a bias against a black boss
BY FRASER WILSON
KEVIN HARPER claims there’s an unconscious bias against black and ethnic people getting management jobs in Scottish football.
Kilmarnock’s Alex Dyer is the only black manager currently employed by any of the 42 SPFL clubs.
And former Hibs and Portsmouth winger Harper – who stepped down as Albion Rovers gaffer last month – says he applied for 40 coaching jobs before Rovers made him the first black manager in Scotland for 15 years in 2018.
The 44-year-old said: “I applied for over 40 jobs ranging from manager, assistant manager, Under18s, Under-23s, both in Scotland and down south.
“Being an ex-pro playing Premier League in Scotland and England, working under managers like Harry Redknapp, Tony Pulis, Alex Miller and all the wealth of experience that comes with that, I probably got two or three replies.
“My first and only interview was Albion Rovers and I got the job.
“There had been no black manager in Scotland for 15 years and when I got the job I said it was disgraceful. In any other walk of life there would be outrage.
“But I have never ever said I deserve a job just because of the colour of my skin. I want to be offered a job because I’m the best candidate.”
Asked if he thought there was an ‘unconscious bias’ he told Sky Sports: “Yeah, I said that when I got the Albion Rovers job.
“Look at Scotland as a whole there’s 40 clubs and if you break that down to a manager, assistant and coach that’s 120 people.
“When I went in there were no other black or ethnic coaches out of 120 jobs. That, for me, was wrong.”