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Quinton Fortune insists he won't let racism stop him becoming Man United manager

Football

By Mirror | Jun 22, 2020

Ex- Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune [COURTESY]

Ex- Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune hopes being black does not block his route to one day becoming manager of the Premier League giants.

The former South Africa international is currently coaching the Red Devils' under-23 side having returned to Old Trafford last year after playing for their senior squad from 1999 to 2006.

The 43-year-old, though, has aims of one day becoming a manager in his own right and dreams of taking over in the Utd hot seat.

However, the odds appear stacked against Fortune with only six managers from black and ethnic minority backgrounds currently working across the 91 clubs in the Football League.

Fortune is at a loss to understand why there are so few BAME managers working in England's top four divisions and believes more needs to be done to encourage equal opportunities.

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"I want to be given the job because of my ability. I want to always be judged because of my character and what I can bring to the team, not because of the colour of my skin," he told Man Utd's official podcast.

"When you look at the game, you see a lot of black players but why are there not many black managers? I don't know what the reason is. I think if I go too deep into that it will block my way of thinking.

"If there was a system in place to give more black players an opportunity, great - get more black players as coaches, I'm all for that."

Fortune also went on to open up about his dreams of becoming a manager, with the ultimate aim of securing the top job at Utd in the future.

The 43-year-old played under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and also featured alongside current Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

And the South African was not shy in declaring that is ultimate goal was to one day emulate the pair and lead the Premier League titans from the dugout.

"I'm starting now with the under-23s and I'm learning a lot and I want to learn as much as possible because management changes so much in the game today," he added.

"I (may) have to go out and learn somewhere else and become a manager, but the dream, the ultimate dream, is to come back and be the manager of Manchester United."