Szymanski suggests that the problem of racism in football may be present even today. He begins by verifying an earlier hypothesis that clubs’ wage bills explain 90% of their performance. Thus, if players’ salaries were to be only based on their abilities, clubs that spend more should finish higher. If there is pay discrimination against some group of players — fewer teams bidding for black players thus lowering the salaries for blacks with the same ability as whites — that neat relation may no longer hold. He concludes that certain clubs seem to have achieved much less than what they could have, by not recruiting black players.

Which of the following findings would best support Szymanski conclusions?

It is given that 90 percent of a club’s performance can be explained by wage bills. If a player’s salary is based on only on their abilities then the clubs that paid more amounts must finish higher. This relation will not hold true if there is pay discrimination. The conclusion of the passage is that certain clubs seem to have achieved less than they could have, by not recruiting black players.

Here, the assumption is that certain clubs paid more than many other clubs but did not finish at a position they could have had.

Now, let’s check each option and verify whether it strengthens Szymanski’s conclusions.

Option A is not relevant here because it does not address our assumption in any way. Hence, option A is wrong.

The clubs that the author is talking about could have chosen a few black players, paid the black players lower wages and achieved as much as they did now. So, if it is a fact that clubs hired white players at relatively high wages and did not show proportionately good performance, then we can conclude that these clubs achieved less than they could have had. Hence, option B is correct.

According to option C, the towns have a history of discrimination against blacks. But, the clubs might or might not show the discrimination. Hence, the underperformance of these clubs cannot strengthen Szymanski’s conclusions. Therefore, option C is wrong.

Option D is a fact which can be deduced from the information given in the passage. Hence, it doesn’t strengthen the conclusion.

Therefore, option B is the correct answer.