NEWLY appointed Huddersfield manager Chris Powell yesterday urged football’s governing bodies to create more opportunities for black coaches.

The former Charlton boss’s appointment at the Terriers has made him the only black manager in the top four divisions of English football.

Last season there were five black coaches at the helm of clubs in the football league but they have all been sacked and are currently out of work, with Chris Hughton still looking for work while Terry Connor is working as the assistant manager at Ipswich.

Though Powell believes that managers should be given the job because of what they have achieved in the game, he is eager to see an increase in the number of chances to manage black coaches are given.

“It doesn’t look great but all you can do is get your badges and become as qualified as you can,” he said.

“I believe that all the governing bodies should get together to reach agreement about how to move forward. People like myself, Chris Hughton, Chris Kiwomya and Paul Ince, we’ve all proven that we can manage. We are all role models.

“Only one of us is working in the professional game at the moment. My appointment here, and all our track records, show that we can take positions of responsibility and be successful.

“Chris was successful at Norwich, Birmingham and Newcastle. I was also PFA chairman for five years, so I can lead people.

“I can’t answer for people who run football clubs. You can only apply for jobs, then do them to the best of your ability. You have to be good at your job.

“But the FA and Premier League and other bodies should try and agree to implement measures that will help.”

Powell is a staunch believer in the Rooney rule, which requires American Football franchises to interview “minority” candidates for any head coaching positions that become available, and feels that it must be introduced into English football.

“It ensures that black and minority ethnic coaches are getting interviewed,” he said. “But it’s not a question of whether I want it. It’s a question of whether all football’s governing bodies can all agree to it.”