Liam Rosenior has been preparing to become a manager for most of his career as a player.

He is not going to let unfavourable odds put him off from following in the footsteps of dad Leroy and Chris Hughton, his boss at Albion.

Hughton is one of only three black and ethnic minority managers in the country.

Three out of 92, with Carlisle's Keith Curle and Grimsby's Marcus Bignot, is a discouraging statistic, despite the advances since the racist attitudes prevalent when Rosenior's father and Hughton were players.

It makes no difference to the versatile 32-year-old, now back from a broken ankle to assist Albion's push for promotion.

Rosenior told The Argus: "There are only three and that's part of my passion. Before I even signed for the club I made no secret that my passion is to go into management.

"I want to see all people from all cultures, not just black and ethnic minorities. Gay, straight, women, men, be in positions of authority and show they can do good jobs, regardless of the colour of their skin or gender or sexuality.

"That is part of the passion for me to do it. I want to be successful and I've prepared to be a coach, to be a manager, from the age of a 20-year-old.

"I've not made a secret of how much I look up to the manager here. He is a fantastic role model, not just because he has done such an excellent job where ever he has gone, but the humility he holds in his character, his integrity. He is someone I look to and want to emulate."

Rosenior's drive to succeed is as strong now with the Seagulls as it was when he made his professional debut as a second half substitute for Bristol City almost 15 years ago.

He said: "If you look at the best coaches and managers they have a passion to be the best coaches and managers in the first instance.

"If you don't have a passion to not just win games but make players better, make them better people, have a structure and a process of organising things - which is something this manager is fantastic at - then you are not going to be a success.

"If you are not passionate about playing the piano, you might as well not play the piano. My passion has always been football and playing, but at the same time and even more so coaching and management.

"Hopefully I'll get the opportunity, if I deserve it, to have a good go at it and be a success."

Rosenior has just finished reading his dad's autobiography, 'It's only banter' (below), published last month with a foreword by Andy Cole.

The Argus: "Inspired isn't the word," he wrote on his Twitter account about a book which is more a social commentary of what it was like to be a black footballer in the Seventies and Eighties.

The title refers to the dressing room excuse his father loathed during a career as a striker with Fulham, West Ham and QPR in which he was routinely subjected to racial insults by fans of both opposing and his own teams, spat upon by a child and barred from a boardroom once he moved into management.

 

Rosenior said: "He's been really passionate about giving his own perspective on things and the best way you can do that is by doing a book.

"You get a lot of self-gratifying autobiographies. I don't think my dad's is along those lines, it's more about society in general and football in general.

"A lot of his experiences of being a footballer I've shared with him, because I used to go to every game he was involved with as a child.

"My passion for football has stemmed from following him as a player and a manager. It is quite a shared story, not just with me but my younger brother Darren, my young sister Milley, Ethan and Max.

"They are a bit young to remember. They are almost a generation below me, but I love football and that stems from my dad's passion for the game. A lot of the lessons he learnt in his career I can hopefully take forward with mine.

"Compared to what my dad and the manager here, Chris, had to go through, what we go through now is nothing.

"They were pioneers, that generation of players, Cyrille Regis, Chris Hughton (below), my father. I remember Clyde Best who was almost a generation before them.

The Argus: "They set the trail. Now colour's not looked at I don't think. When you watch a game now you don't look at players and say who's black or who's white. I know in those days you did.

"And I know that almost characterised how they were perceived. If a black player was on the pitch he was perceived as being quick but not the brightest.

"Those misconceptions have gone out of the game. And if it wasn't for that generation before me, that would still be around today."

Rosenior is conscientious about continuing to break down barriers and the role model responsibilities of modern day players.

A vocal supporter of anti-racism and anti-homophobia campaigns, he was recently inducted into the 'Show Racism the Red Card' hall of fame.

He volunteered to become an ambassador with Albion in the Community, the club's charitable arm, and has taken part in a question and answer session with youngsters from a deprived area of the city, an anti-racism day with pupils from three schools and a disability awareness session.

His work has been recognised by a nomination alongside Portsmouth's Christian Burgess and Andy Butler of Doncaster Rovers for the PFA Player in the Community award.

The gongs are handed out at the Football League's annual awards evening in London on Sunday week. Whether he is first, second or third, it would take a brave man to write off Rosenior's chances of overcoming those odds by becoming a winning manager.