Yeovil Town is pleased to confirm David Mills has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer.

In his new role, Mills will be responsible for non-first team activity at the club with Chairman John Fry concentrating exclusively on strategic policy and ground redevelopment at Huish Park. Mills’ responsibilities also include overseeing Yeovil Town Academy and continuing to Chair Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust. David is also a Governor at Yeovil College.

David’s strong ties to the club are numerous having been an Associate Director since 2013 plus being Chairman and then President at Yeovil Town Ladies for eight years until 2016 (during which time he helped the Ladies team successfully bid for a place in the Women’s Super League and to win four major national FA Awards). In May 2017, Mills was appointed as Supporter Director and in June 2017 he became Yeovil’s Business Development Manager – a job role that will now be made dormant in the club structure.

During the last year, Mills has helped deliver positive change to the club behind the scenes and together with Supporters Alliance Chairman, Rich Rendell, has been instrumental in making the Supporters Alliance a much more effective group which has achieved notable improvements such as revised pricing for under-16s and young persons this season.

Mills has a very strong commercial background via his experience in business, marketing and community relations – skills built up during three decades in the shopping centre industry. In addition, he has been both Chairman of Yeovil Town Centre Partnership and President of Yeovil Chamber of Trade.

Commenting, Chairman John Fry said: “Over the last year, David has developed a first-class understanding of how the club needs to move forward off the field. I have given David a mandate to bring change and more positive thinking to off the field operations where they need that type of support.

"Having said that, there are some hugely committed people in the off the field team and we need to make sure these talented people are best utilised and given support to develop. It is also vital that the Academy and Community Sports Trust operations continue to grow but with improved linkages to the main part of the club, particularly the first team."

Remarking on the appointment, manager Darren Way said: “David has quickly understood and bought into the culture of the club and what we’re trying to build both on and off the pitch. The various branches of the club have been pulled closer together since his arrival and this is the natural next step in continuing that development.”

Commenting on his new role, Mills said he believes the club needs to make sure off the field thinking matches that of the first team - he added: “First team Manager Darren Way expects a progressive culture, attention to detail and unity of purpose from the first team and it is my job to ensure that off the field we adopt that type of ethos too.

"On or off the field as a club we need to achieve by unity and move forward – we have strong foundations in terms of community relations, fan engagement and business development but there is plenty of scope to do more."

Although he remains an Associate Director of the club, Mills’ promotion does mean he will step down as Supporter Director with immediate effect due to a possible conflict of interest with his new position. How he is replaced as Supporter Director will be confirmed by the club after a dialogue with the Supporters Alliance.