Forest’s Mulholland appointed Chief Football Officer by SFA

Mulholland replaces Andy Gould, who has departed to become a High Performance Specialist with FIFA after three decades with the governing body. Head of Men’s Elite Strategy Chris Docherty has also left his role.

The SFA advertised for a new Chief Football Officer responsible for ‘shaping and delivering the vision for football development and performance across Scotland.’

Mulholland will lead across all national teams (Men’s and Women’s), as well as overseeing coach education and development, elite player pathways and player development, and grassroots development. He was appointed after going through two rounds of interviews.

The Scot can list a number of achievements during his time at Forest. At first-team level, the club achieved their highest-ever Premier League finish last season (seventh) and have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League this team.

At Academy level, the club have maintained their record of having a graduate in every first-team squad since the 1940s, while the B Team won the Premier League International Cup last season.

Last season the Women’s team went from amateur to professional and had an undefeated promotion season to WSL2, while also winning the League Cup.

Before joining Forest, Mulholland spent 20 years at Rangers, having initially joined as Football in the Community Manager. He then rose up the ranks to head the Academy for eight years from 2015.

He was head hunted for his job at Forest by former Ibrox Sporting Director Ross Wilson, who has since left for Newcastle United.

At the SFA he will have to decide whether or not to carry forward the recommendations of his predecessors. Before leaving Hampden, Gould and Docherty had co-authored a report into player transition between the ages of 16 and 21, concluding that Scotland trailed behind similar-sized nations in providing opportunities to make the jump to senior football.

A follow-up report recommended the phasing out of the SFA’s seven Regional Performance Schools and a shift in emphasis from U12s to U16s to a focus on the U12s.