Nottingham Forest staff profiles

CHIEF FOOTBALL OFFICER

Ross Wilson

Nationality: Scottish

Started his career at Falkirk and moved to Watford and Huddersfield before joining Southampton in 2015, initially as Director of Scouting and Recruitment and then Director of Football Operations. Appointed to this new role by Forest in April 2023.

DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL

Kiriakos Dourekas

Nationality: Greek

Brought into the club by owner Evangelos Marinakis in 2018 following his takeover. Is highly trusted by Marinakis, having worked at his other club, Olympiakos, for 26 years, prior to his arrival at the City Ground. Oversees the football department and looks to the long term.

HEAD COACH

Steve Cooper

Nationality: Welsh

Son of former referee Keith Cooper and has overseen a remarkable revival at Forest since taking over in September 2021. Club were bottom of the Championship when he arrived, with Cooper leading them to promotion via the play-offs. Had also taken Swansea City to the play-offs in the previous two seasons - and led England U17s to victory at the 2017 World Cup.

ASSISTANT

Alan Tate

Nationality: English

Former pro player who began his coaching career with Swansea City's Academy. Worked on first-team staff under Cooper and then joined him at Forest in September 2021.

FIRST-TEAM COACH

Jamie Robinson

Nationality: English

Former centre-half who started his playing career at Liverpool, though never made a senior appearance for them. Went on to play for clubs including Barnsley, Torquay, Carlisle and Exeter City. Was Head of Youth Development at Shrewsbury Town and led on coach development in the Midlands for the PFA before joining the Football Association, where he was Head of Professional Game Coach Development, in 2011. Reunited with former FA colleague Cooper at Forest in July 2022.

FIRST-TEAM COACH

Steven Reid

Nationality: Irish

Played in the Premier League for Blackburn, West Brom and Burnley, as well as winning 23 caps for the Republic of Ireland. Started his coaching career with Reading and had first-team coach roles with Crystal Palace, Scotland, West Brom and Forest. Took a sabbatical to be a wellbeing and confidence coach in 2022/23. Was our guest on Episode #41 of the TGG Podcast.

FIRST-TEAM COACH

Andy Reid

Nationality: Irish

Appointed to first-team staff in August 2022 after 18 months as U23s Head Coach.Arrived on Trentside as a player in 1998 and amassed more than 280 appearances for the club before joining Academy coaching set-up in January 2020.

GOALKEEPER COACH

Danny Alcock

Nationality: English

Worked with Cooper for the England U17s and joined him at Forest in September 2021.

HEAD OF PERFORMANCE

Alek Gross

Nationality: English

Joined in July 2023, having spent the previous decade with Southampton, where he was also Head of Performance. Also worked for Leeds Rhinos rugby league team for five years, during which time they won three Super League titles.

HEAD OF PERFORMANCE AND MEDICAL

Arnaldo Abrantes

Nationality: Portuguese

Competed for Portugal in the 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as in the 100m at the European and World Championships. Joined Forest under Sabri Lamouchi in August 2020 and stayed on under Chris Hughton and then Cooper.

HEAD OF PERFORMANCE

Dave Tivey

Nationality: English

Worked with Cooper for England U17s and Swansea City before joining him at Forest.

HEAD OF STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Adam Burrows

Nationality: English

Spent eight years with Derby County before moving with Frank Lampard to Chelsea as first-team strength and conditioning coach. For the last year he’s been Head of Strength and Conditioning at Nottingham Trent University and has now taken on the same title with Forest. In an article in January 2018, Burrows described his role as: “I work predominantly in the gym, on strength, power and areas of injury risk, so that when the players go outside, they are in the best condition to be able to deal with the training demands.”

SPORT SCIENTIST

Tom Evans

Nationality: English

Joined Forest as an intern in August 2020 and was promoted first to Assistant Sport Scientist and then, in June 2022, Sport Scientist.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH

Josh Bridge

Nationality: English

Joined Forest in summer of 2022 and responsible for player gym programmes.

NUTRITIONIST

Panos Markakis

Nationality: Greek

Has worked for Forest since July 2019.

HEAD PHYSIO

Jon Fearn

Nationality: English

Worked for Chelsea for 13 years before leaving in January 2023 as part of their medical revamp under new Chairman Todd Boehly. Was a well-respected member of staff there and hit the headlines during the Eva Caneiro controversy in 2015. Joined Forest in July 2023 and explained more about his Chelsea career and exit HERE.

PHYSIO

Dimitris Kaplanis

Nationality: Greek

Joined Forest in June 2019. Previously had a short spell at Olympiakos. Studied at the University of Bath.

PHYSIO

Mark Devonshire

Nationality: English

Has worked for Forest since November 2017.

PHYSIO

Niall Stevens

Nationality: English

Joined from Sheffield Wednesday as a Sports Therapist in June 2021. Promoted to Physio in March 2022.

HEAD OF ANALYSIS

Stephen Rands

Nationality: English

Worked for Manchester City for seven years, latterly as Head of Performance Analysis, before joining Frank Lampard at Derby in June 2018. Linked up with Cooper at Swansea and moved with him to Nottingham Forest in 2021. One of the most experience analysts in English football.

LEAD PERFORMANCE ANALYST

Tom Corden

Nationality: English

Joined Forest as an Academy intern in August 2016. Promoted to first team analyst in 2019 and to Lead Analyst in 2020. Delivered a superb presentation at TGG's Individual Development 2022 Webinar.

PERFORMANCE ANALYST

Gabriel Stephenson

Nationality: English

Joined club in June 2021.

ANALYST

Axl Rice

Nationality: English

Also joined as an Academy Analysis Intern in 2016 and progressed through the ranks to become Head of Academy Analysis and then first-team analyst.

HEAD OF DATA INSIGHTS

Dan Morris

Nationality: Welsh

Appointed to this new role in September 2022 after five years as a data scientist at Swansea.

HEAD OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS

Ed Henderson

Nationality: English

Started as Academy Secretary in 2018 before becoming Assistant Director of Football, to Dourekas, and then Head of Football Operations in August 2021.