QPR’S DIRECTOR of Football ‘Sir’ Les Ferdinand recently spoke to the Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS) ‘Diversification of the Sports Media’ Programme members in an exclusive Q&A.

The former England international hopes the season will finish in order to maintain the ‘integrity’ of English football.

“It has to finish,” Ferdinand began. “Whenever that is going to be, it’s going to be, but I think just because of what it means, I think we have to finish the leagues.

“We still have to do more because we don’t want to lose another generation of talent coaches.”

Les Ferdinand

“I think for the integrity of the leagues; not just the Championship, all the leagues. You look at the likes of Fulham, West Brom, Leeds and all these teams who are doing really well and have had good seasons.

“If you were to end the season now without it playing out, what we’re saying is there’s no promotion, no relegation- it can’t be.”

Ferdinand continued: “If you’re top of the league and say, ‘right, first two teams in the Championship are going to be promoted, it’s not going to be fair.”

The top spot in the Championship currently belongs to Leeds who are currently one point clear of West Brom at the top of the table, while the Hoops sit at 13th with 50 points, six points off Preston North End who occupy the final Championship play-off spot.

Clinching

As for the Premier League, Liverpool are two wins away from clinching their first title in 30 years. The former Spurs forward voiced his opinion on the top flight’s current standings.

“Liverpool are way in front of everybody else and I suppose if we went to people and said, ‘look, let’s give Liverpool the title because they’ve won it, they’re so far in front and it’ll be very difficult to catch them.

“Obviously if you’re in that bottom three and there’s 27 points to play for and you’re one or two points away from being outside that bottom three, you’re not happy to be relegated.”

Minority

During his career on and off the pitch, the Acton-born striker admitted to not being interviewed by many media members that looked like him or were of any minority. Ferdinand shared his thoughts on the lack of diversity in sports media.

“It’s been a major problem, a problem that we’ve been trying to get to the bottom of for a long time and I know Leon [Mann] and a few others have been working very hard to change the landscape and what you [BCOMS] have been doing will help that process. 

“We still have to do more because we don’t want to lose another generation of talent coaches in whatever sector of football it may be. It may not just be coaches, it could be doctors, physios, sports scientists, we do not want to lose another generation.”