Nottingham Forest Women to operate professional hybrid model for 2023/24 season.
- Women's team now integrated fully within Nottingham Forest Football Club.
- Professional hybrid model instated with plan to move to full-time professional.
Nottingham Forest is delighted to announce the full integration of Nottingham Forest Women into the wider football department at the club. This places it at the heart of Nottingham Forest’s high-performance team, with access to first-class facilities and support from the club’s expert staff.
This integration will see the women’s first team move to a professional hybrid model for the 2023/24 season as phase one of a strategy to ultimately create a full-time professional team. The hybrid model will help the club to achieve its ambition of promotion to the Barclays Championship.
The new model will see an increased number of training sessions for the first team squad and Forest Women players will be offered contracts for the first time in the club’s history.
Joining the football department under the leadership of Chief Football Officer, Ross Wilson, Forest Women will relocate to The Nigel Doughty Academy for their training sessions, allowing them to benefit from a shared methodology and innovation with the other Forest staff and teams based there.
As part of the restructure, the club will disband the current reserve team and reassign its staff to the women's first team and Girls Pathway. This will give the club the opportunity to optimise its current resources and establish a more dynamic structure that better aligns with the club's overall strategy.
Current reserve team players will receive support and signposting until such time as they find new opportunities within the women’s game or elsewhere.
Nottingham Forest Chairman, Nicholas Randall KC, said: “When we arrived at the club six years ago one of our key objectives, as determined by the owner Mr. Marinakis, was to re-integrate the women’s team into the club structure and to nurture and develop it alongside all other areas of the club.
“Today’s announcement is a landmark moment for us all and represents the culmination of six years of development and investment.
“We are all delighted with the progress made and look forward to further growth and success in the future.”
Women’s and Girls Manager, Amber Wildgust, shared her thoughts on the news of Forest Women operating with a hybrid model.
“These are exciting plans to integrate the Women’s and Girls department within the wider football department at the club. The board and the ownership have given real backing to our women’s team and the future is incredibly positive.
“This will start with the women's first team relocating to the training ground and operating a hybrid professional model.
“With the dedication of our exceptional staff, players, and supporters, we are confident we can establish a women's team that will make the people of Nottingham proud.”
Nottingham Forest Women are currently recruiting for multiple roles at the club, for more information click here.