RESEARCH carried out by Essex University experts shows skin tone continues to have a significant impact on which positions English footballers play in.

Statistics provided by Sports Interactive - best known as the makers of the popular Football Manager games - show footballers of a darker skin tone are more likely to occupy peripheral positions traditionally associated with athleticism and strength while team mates of a lighter skin tone are more likely to fill central positions conventionally considered to need organisational skills and creativity.

The research, published in the International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching, has been accepted as the most thorough investigation of its kind outside of the United States, where the influence of skin tone on playing position has been studied extensively in American football and basketball.

Roisin Wood, chief executive of Kick it Out, said: "It is important that further research is conducted on top of the findings from the University of Essex to figure out how significant a role skin tone plays in opportunities provided across the whole of the sport."

Lead researcher Dr John Mills, from the university's school of sport, rehabilitation and exercise sciences, said: “What sets this research apart is that [it] analysed data from 4,515 players, that is, every player in English football’s top four professional leagues across five seasons [2010-2015].”

He added: "Our work with Sports Interactive has allowed us to analyse averages for skin tone and primary playing position across multiple time points and has given us access to a much larger sample than would otherwise be possible."

Dr Tom Markham, head of strategic development at Sports Interactive, added: “Rather than relying on one person’s perceptions at one time point, the Football Manager database utilises a network of researchers to gather a wealth of data covering every professional footballer in the world.

"Our research has taken a more nuanced approach and found that even though players of a darker skin tone still primarily dominate peripheral positions, there are central roles where skin tone appears to be less important, for example, striker and defensive midfield.

"That said, there are still some positions which appear almost exclusive to players of a lighter skin tone, such as goalkeeper and attacking midfield."

Despite significant differences in resources within the four English professional leagues, the researchers found the same link between a player’s skin tone and their playing position across the board.

Dr Mills added: "There could be several reasons for this type of positional disparity.

“One could be that biases influence coaches’ decision-making when evaluating individual athletes. This may lead to two players of the same ability but different skin tone being judged differently by their coach.

"Likewise, it could be a case of self-selection due to a lack of role models in certain positions.

"This could affect youngsters thinking over where they would like to play before they have taken their first steps on to a football pitch."

Researchers also say pundits have a role to play. Previous research stated pundits tend to use adjectives such as 'strength', 'power', 'stamina' and 'pace' to describe players of a darker skin tone and 'intelligence', 'leadership', and 'creativity' when describing those of a lighter skin tone.

Dr Mills added: "Being influenced by stereotypes when under pressure is not unusual, but failing to see the strengths and weaknesses of individuals is a problem."

Earlier this month the Football Association announced it would adopt the ‘Rooney rule’ when appointing the next England manager, which will see at least one Black, Asian or minority ethnic candidate interviewed for the role.

The next stage of this research will be to first compare the findings to other footballing nations.