Norwich City are delighted to announce the appointment of Flo Allen to the position of Norwich City Women's general manager.
Born and raised in Norfolk, Allen played at the Norwich City Girls Centre of Excellence until the age of 15, before becoming a full-time professional for Bristol City Women in the Women’s Super League and studying sports business management at the University of Gloucestershire.
Allen is a Continental Cup finalist, who has won the FA Youth Cup, and stood as a candidate in the PFA players’ board in 2020.
“I’m really excited to have been appointed as Norwich City Women’s general manager,” she told canaries.co.uk. “The role is a new one that’s been created by the football club.
“The women’s team has recently been brought in-house by the main club, which is really exciting for the girls and Norwich City going forward.
“We are now moving in a really, really exciting direction, new strategies and all these exciting things that it is my job to put in place to drive revenue off the pitch and put a team together so that the manager can win games on the pitch.
“It is great that a club of our stature supports the women’s side. Norfolk, as a whole, is such a vast area and geographically unique. Norwich is the pinnacle of that and we have an abundance of talent that seems to do really well in the youth sides. Then they get to us at the senior side and we can’t offer the level of football that we want to at the moment. It is my job to try and strive to make sure the women’s football team is at the highest level it can be.”
Executive director Zoe Ward added: “When it was decided that the women’s team would come in house, our first priority was to appoint a general manager to oversee the women’s team. Having joined us a few weeks back, we’re really delighted with the positive impact that Flo has had already.
“We felt it was really important to bring someone in who knows the women’s game first hand and has the same goals as us in making that step up. I have full confidence in her to take on this challenge and to build on what we already have within this fantastic group.”
Like England international Lauren Hemp, Allen had to leave Norfolk to pursue her dream of becoming a professional footballer. Now, she’s hopeful that won’t have to be the case for upcoming talent in the county.
“All the conversations I’ve had with Zoe have been so positive,” she said. “The strides the club wants to do to bring the women’s team in and make them feel more valued… we’re a city that’s built on a community and a family and we want to make this club one whole team and one club strong.
“Women’s football in Norfolk has an exceptional potential right now. The talent that’s come through, even in the last five to 10 years, is frightening.
“We just really need to hammer home a solid infrastructure around the first team and there are some really exciting changes being made that will grow this club organically, because it’s got to start from the bottom up.
“We’ve also got to make sure we do it correctly and that we’re self-sustainable. We’ve got to be built on that model which is aligned to the first team and the whole club.
“The goal is to develop, nurture and retain talent to play for Norwich City Women’s first team. We strive off developing talent so we and they can reap the rewards of that.”
Chief executive officer of CSF Ian Thornton said: ““Together with the Football Club, we are excited about the future of Girls and Women’s Football in Norfolk. Building The Nest was a key strategic aim that would provide a home for our Women’s team together with all the players in our youth development pathway to benefit from.”
“Proven pathways take years to form and be effective. Having supported Flo as a young player, whilst we are proud of what she has achieved in the professional game we are now just as motivated to support her in this new role as our first full time general manager.”