Notts County Add New Associate Director

English League club, Notts County, have unveiled local businessman Ian Roberts as the club’s latest Associate Director.

Mr Roberts, a successful local entrepreneur, was delighted to have signed up to the new Associate Director package, which has been launched recently.

“I’m a lifelong Notts County fan, my mother, who is 85, is a lifelong Notts County fan – she was here the day that they signed Tommy Lawton and she was in the record crowd against York – so I’m a Nottingham person,” explained Mr Roberts.

“I’m a director of an international environmental consulting organisation. We have 1,000 people worldwide in Australasia, Africa, North America and Europe. I was a founder director and we have grown the business from nothing to where we are now, so that’s my day job.

“I’m a sporting person, from a sporting family, I played football to a reasonably high standard locally and I’m also a big cricket and golf fan; my nephews play Nottinghamshire Premier League cricket.”

The Notts County FC Board is currently offering a number of private individuals the opportunity to become Associate Directors of Notts County and to invest in the future of the club to assist in its evolution, both on and off the pitch.

Commercial Director Ken Sharp explained: “Ideally we are aiming for a group of ten individuals from varying business backgrounds who have both a strong interest in Notts County’s future success, as well strong links within the Nottinghamshire region to help us grow as a club.

“To date we have been appointed four individuals but hope to announce more over the coming months”

As well as a six-figure cash investment into the Club, Associate Directors will also contribute to both the strategic and commercial development of Notts County through their business acumen and contacts.

A bonus or coupon payment system is also linked with Associate Director investment if promotion is achieved over the next five to eight years.

Importantly, all Associate Directorship investments will be used to assist the funding of an expanded youth development scheme, robust scouting program and an advanced player tracking system with state-of the art performance analysis tools in order to develop a leaner, more competitive playing staff for Notts County.

It was the chance to help move Notts County forward that attracted Mr Roberts to the scheme.

“I wasn’t driven just by the desire to sit in the Directors’ Box, I’ve been perfectly happy for 40 years sat in the normal seats,” he added.

“The attraction to me was that Ray, Jim and Aileen presented a plan of what they were trying to do with Notts County Football Club that included a wide range of initiatives, where the objectives were to take Notts County forward in a sustainable manner over the next five to eight years.

“So the attraction and excitement for me personally was to buy into that and if I can make any contribution in delivering some of those initiatives that will take this club forward then I will be absolutely delighted.”