SAINTS have confirmed that they have now signed up to the FA’s Leadership Diversity Code, a year on after its launch.

Last October, the club were the only Premier League team not to sign up and have explained their wait, saying they wanted to see: “How the revised Premier League Equality Standard and the FLDC would complement before considering revising our recruitment targets.”

Post the introduction of the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard in 2021, Saints now say they better understand the objectives and were happy to sign up.

The FA state that the code seeks to ensure that the best people for job are still hired, but that they know diversity reigns on the pitch and that more needs to be done off the pitch to make the game representative of society.

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The code seeks to tie professional clubs to firm commitments that include ensuring certain percentages of their coaching staff are from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and are representative of genders and identities.

That also includes senior administration teams, and FA recruitment shortlists will always have a strictly diverse range of candidates.

The organisation will publish clearly their diversity action plans, as well as publishing updates on its progress every year so the change can be seen, monitored and if needed, actioned on.

Saints’ signature means that a year on, every Premier League club is now a signatory of the code, as well as a number of EFL clubs, including Bournemouth and Portsmouth, and some women’s clubs.