David McNally was named as Norwich City's new Chief Executive on 12th June 2009, replacing Neil Doncaster

McNally was formerly managing Director at Fulham whom he left in June 2008 after more than four years with the club, during which he was credited with helping to significantly increase the Cottagers' income, preserve their Premiership status and appoint current boss Roy Hodgson, who saved them from relegation against the odds in 2008 and guided them to European qualification in 2009.

Prior to his stint with Fulham, Mr McNally was sales and marketing director with Celtic for four years where he worked alongside former Norwich player and manager Martin O'Neill and helped the club approximately double its off-the-field income.

Before his move to Celtic, he held senior roles at blue chip companies including Sara Lee, L'Oreal and Courtaulds. This year he has been working as a business consultant. He is married, with a 22-year-old son and a 19-year-old daughter.

Joint majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones said in a statement: “We are delighted to have secured the services of someone of David's calibre. His track record speaks for itself and his experience, drive and ambition are just what is needed to galvanise the club in these challenging times. We have interviewed several people interested in the role and received applications from many more, but David comes with the very highest of recommendations within the game and he stood head and shoulders above the others we spoke to. We are very excited about working with David and new board directors who we will be announcing in the near future to start a new era for this great club.”

Unlike Mr Doncaster, the new chief executive will not be a director at the club.

McNally said said: “It was the size of the club and knowing what a fantastic fan base it has, with so many loyal supporters, which were the main factors in me wanting to take up this challenge. The club has so much potential and so many strengths and I'm excited about working to help capitalise on that in the months and years ahead. It was also the passion of the owners and directors in the shape of Delia Smith, Michael Wynn Jones and Michael Foulger which attracted me. It's so important to have people at board level who share passion for the football club and the directors here definitely have it.Clearly promotion from League One is essential - everyone in the football club needs to be focused on getting us back to the Championship.Consolidation for a season is not something I would be interested in and I sense I'm not alone in that. Of course, no team has a divine right to promotion from any division but the fact remains that the size of the club and its support demands a positive attitude and a commitment to promotion as the objective. It's about sheer hard work from everyone at the club. That is what will give us the best chance of achieving the objective we all share.”

Mcnally resigned in May 2016, just a couple of weeks before the end of the season and following confirmation that the club would return to the second tier. It was later revealed that he received £1.4m as a pay-off.