Forest Green have made two key changes to their backroom staff.
Following the departure of director of football Richard Hughes to Portsmouth, James Mooney has been promoted to chief operating officer. Mooney will now play an important part alongside the Bolt New Lawn top brass in the search to find Rovers’ next sporting director.
An effervescent character, Mooney has worked at FGR since 2014, firstly as club secretary, and more recently as head of football operations – witnessing the rise from National League to League One during his tenure. He’ll report directly to the chief executive, Henry Staelens.
Mooney said: “I’m delighted to take on the role of COO. I’ve been here a long time, and looking forward to what the next phase of our journey brings. It’s exciting to be working with Dale (Vince)and Henry (Staelens), and all of the talented people at FGR, to drive the club forward.”
Meanwhile, lifelong fan Laurie Martin is the first addition to Rovers’ new content and communications team following the departures of Conor Shaw and Noah Dougherty, who joined Manchester City and Bristol City, respectively.
Martin will take responsibility for the output on the club website and social media channels – and will begin his role at FGR on Monday, October 24.
Graduating from Gloucestershire University this summer, he cut his journalism teeth during that time by covering FGR for Gloucestershire Live and joins the club from his role as digital producer at the Press Association.
Laurie added: “I’m thrilled to be joining FGR and I’m grateful to Henry and everybody at the Club for giving me this opportunity. My aim is to deliver engaging content on the website and social channels, as well as improving communication with supporters across these platforms. I can’t wait to get started!”
Henry Staelens said of both appointments: “Very happy to appoint James as COO – he’s well respected around the club and the community – and also has a wealth of experience, so will take to his new role quickly.
“And Laurie is someone that couldn’t be better suited to us and the role of digital executive – where his expertise will allow us to improve how we engage and communicate with fans – so I’m thrilled he’ll be joining us in a few weeks”.
