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"Liam Rosenior is a quality coach who knows the game inside out, and that's what matters most. I want to wish him and his staff all the best.
"But as Chelsea's first black player, I would be lying if I said this moment doesn't move me."
Those are the words of Paul Canoville, who made his historic debut for the Blues' first team as a substitute against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in April 1982.
On Tuesday, Chelsea appointed Strasbourg manager Rosenior, 41, as their new head coach following the departure of Enzo Maresca.
Strasbourg are part of the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital-owned BlueCo multi-club ownership group that also controls Chelsea.
There have been just 12 black managers in the Premier League since its inception 34 years ago.
"What really strikes me about Liam is he grew up and played not far from here, he knows this community," added Canoville.
"When kids see someone like Liam managing their club, someone who looks like them, who's from their ends, who comes from a family that fights for what's right… that's powerful and shows them the path is there.
"So yes, it is a massive moment for the club, for London, for every young person dreaming big.
"But right now? Let's back Liam, give him what he needs, and let the man do his work."
Dutch legend Ruud Gullit was appointed Chelsea manager in 1996 and became the top flight's first black head coach.
Twelve years later, in 2008, Paul Ince became the first black English manager in the top flight when he took over Blackburn Rovers.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is the only other current top flight boss of colour.
The scarcity of managers of colour across English football is matched by a lack of representation in the boardroom.
According to the Black Footballers Partnership 2023 report, 43% of Premier League players are from black backgrounds.
Yet analysis by Kick It Out found just 3.2% of board and senior leadership management teams across 17 of 20 Premier League clubs are from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
At senior coaching level, based on data from 11 clubs, the figure is 2%.
For all coaching roles - including senior roles - from the same 11 clubs, the figure is 5%.
"He's certainly broken barriers in terms of him being announced as a Chelsea manager, and we want to see more of that," said Kick It Out CEO Samuel Okafor.
"We know there is loads of talent that exists in the black and underrepresented communities... they want the opportunity to show what they can do. We need to continue to work hard to break those barriers down."
Additionally, Rosenior will become the fourth permanent English manager currently in the Premier League - joining Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe and Scott Parker - which lags behind Europe's other big five leagues in terms of national representation.
Sixteen of the 20 top-flight managers in Italy are Italian, 11 of the 20 in Spain are Spanish, 12 of the 18 in Germany are German and 10 of the 18 in France are French.
Current Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane said: "I'm sure all young English coaches from an academy background will be, in some way no matter who you support, rooting for Liam.
"It's really inspirational for young English academy coaches to see someone get that job with that profile and we hope he does really well."
Leroy Rosenior, Liam's father, played for the likes of Fulham, West Ham and Queens Park Rangers, and his managerial career peaked with a five-month stint at then-League One side Brentford in 2006.
In 2019 he was awarded an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for his services to tackling discrimination in football and wider society.
When Rosenior Jr retired from playing he followed his father's footsteps. He began writing a column for The Guardian, where in 2017 he acknowledged the under-representation of black coaches. He highlighted that race does not influence ability and said opportunities should be given on merit.
He also made a point he would repeat: that vast under-representation leads to misunderstandings of players from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
In a podcast with The Athletic FC, Rosenior highlighted how his star striker, Emmanuel Emegha, was labelled "difficult" and "emotional", but said he understood the Netherlands international with Nigerian parentage. Emegha is set to join him in moving from Strasbourg to Chelsea in July.
In further Guardian columns, Rosenior also admitted he was "ashamed" to hear an unnamed coach make a homophobic slur when he was a player. He pledged his support for the Premier League's Rainbow Laces campaign and wrote an open letter to Donald Trump during his first US presidency, accusing him of "blatant" racism.
Rosenior has since made his name as a manager - first at Hull City, then Strasbourg - and Wayne Rooney said this week he was "as good a coach as I've ever worked with" following their time together at Derby County.
Rosenior said his farewells at Strasbourg on Tuesday morning before signing a six‑and‑a‑half‑year contract at Chelsea.
The Blues had the Premier League's first black manager in Gullit and the first black captain in Paul Elliott.
Elliott has since worked in multiple senior positions, including the FA's diversity and inclusion board, and is now the vice-chairman at Charlton Athletic - who Chelsea play in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
"Liam, in my opinion, represents everything that was right about the 21st century," Elliott said.
"He has been an outstanding player, very articulate, hugely intelligent, and you can see that whatever he did - whether as a manager or technical director - he was really cognizant of the game.
"Whatever he did, I knew he would be a success. His passion was to forge a career in football management. He speaks in a way I hadn't heard from many people - you felt you were learning.
"It sends out a strong, positive message to current and future generations - that people of colour who look like Liam can go to the very top and be at the cutting edge of football management.
"But let's not forget - he's there on merit. He's there on talent."
