A new book about racism in football has made the claim that the English Football Association tried to impose an unofficial quota on the number of black players England managers could use.
The new book Pitch Black is by Emy Onuora and claims that a leading anti-racism campaigner said that ex-England boss Graham Taylor had admitted to him that the FA had informed to him to stay below a certain number of non-white players.
However, the book does not suggest that Taylor agreed or complied with the FA request, according to The Guardian.
But it contains claims that Taylor had previously admitted to being summoned by two members of the FA's hierarchy and was told that he should not go beyond a certain limit in terms of the number of black players that he used.
When contacted by The Guardian, Taylor told the publication that: "If anyone looks at my record, I could never be accused of blocking the way for any black player."
Onuora also said: "There is no question of Taylor having acted on those instructions, but the episode raises some important questions as to how many other England managers were given the same instructions and therefore felt pressurised to limit the numbers of black players selected to play for the national side."
During his time in charge, Taylor gave debuts and caps to the likes of Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand, Tony Daley and Carlton Palmer.
Taylor also told BBC 5live that he will be taking legal advice after he was not contacted by the publishers before the release of the book.
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