Key Nottingham Forest off-field changes announced as statement made
Nottingham Forest have announced changes to their board of directors.
Former Member of Parliament Michael Dugher has been appointed to the board. At the same time, former chairman Tom Cartledge is to step down from his role on the board with immediate effect.
Dugher is a Reds fan and a regular at the City Ground. He was previously patron and then board member of the Nottingham Forest Community Trust.
"As a massive Forest fan, to be asked to join the board of the greatest football club on planet earth is a huge honour and a privilege,” Dugher said. “Thanks to the superb support and ongoing commitment of our owners, these are exciting times for Nottingham Forest - back where we belong competing amongst the elite of English football.
“I know how important the club is to the local community as well as to fans living across the country and indeed throughout the world. I hope I can use some of my experience to help the owners and the board continue to build the club from strength to strength.”
A former shadow secretary of state for the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Dugher will bring with him plenty of experience. He stood down from Parliament in 2017.
Reds chairman Nicholas Randall KC said: “We are delighted to welcome Michael to our board of directors. He is an outstanding candidate as well as fan of the club.
“His expertise in public affairs and his local knowledge and experience complements perfectly the existing skills on our board. He joins us at a very exciting time both on and off the field and we look forward to working with him.”
Dugher is a graduate of the University of Nottingham. Announcing his appointment, Forest said: “Former Member of Parliament Michael Dugher is a business adviser and experienced chief executive who has led organisations across a variety of different sectors, and has spent three decades working in government and public affairs.
“Amongst numerous senior positions in his seven years in the House of Commons, Michael served as Shadow Secretary of State for the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Prior to his election to Parliament in 2010, Michael spent most of the previous 10 years as a special adviser in several different Whitehall departments including working in 10 Downing Street as chief spokesman for the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
“Since standing down from Parliament in 2017, Michael has been CEO of industry bodies and was also a member of the previous Government’s Creative Industries Council. He is now a company director, chairman and senior adviser to a number of large listed and global firms. He has been patron and a trustee of several charities and organisations and is currently a member of the Advisory Council for the Tourism Alliance.”
The club add Cartledge has stepped down from the board “to focus his time on running his family business”. In October, he stepped down from the role of chairman after little more than 12 months in post but had remained on the club’s board of directors.