Trinity Alumnus helps to deliver the Premier League’s ‘No Room for Racism Action Plan’

Trinity alumnus Paul Cleal OBE [1984] recently announced his delight at seeing the Premier League’s ‘No Room for Racism Action Plan’ published.

“It’s been a big part of my life for the last six months and it’s been great to work with colleagues at the Premier League and across football who have shown so much energy and enthusiasm for positive change in this area,” he said.

“We’ve seen in recent weeks plenty of evidence that racism remains a major problem given the abuse that a number of black footballers have received and this Plan will continue to address that. However equally, if not more important in the long run, is the ability of everyone to have the opportunity to progress and realise their potential.

“Greater diversity on the pitch has driven the Premier League and its Clubs to higher levels of success but that diversity is not present to any great extent in the most important off-field roles, whether that be in coaching or board and executive positions. In that sense football has much in common with other industries.”

“This is clearly a huge undertaking with Paul at the very heart of it,” said Mr Young, Trinity School’s Director of Development.

The Premier League announced its No Room For Racism Action Plan earlier this month. It includes commitments aimed at creating more opportunities for minority ethnic groups in football, with the aim of eradicating racial prejudice. It was developed in partnership with Paul, as the Premier League’s Equality Advisor to the Board. The plan was recently given unanimous support by the 20 Premier League clubs.

Paul is also part of Trinity’s Bursary Fund project and he is passionate about social mobility and diversity, having worked with a variety of educational institutions. He was previously a board member of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

He has worked in both the private and public sectors for 30 years, 16 of them as a Partner at PwC in both the UK and Africa practices.  He led and grew successful businesses within PwC such as the Government & Public Sector practice and Africa Business Group.

Paul has also held a variety of non-executive positions at institutions such as Kingston University (Vice-Chair of the Board), the Sainsbury’s Foundation (advisory board member) and the Centre for Social Investigation at Nuffield College Oxford (advisory board member).