New Wolves Managing Director Laurie Dalrymple is both "thrilled" and "excited" to be playing a key role in helping to lead the club into a new era.
Following the recent departure of Chief Executive Jez Moxey, Dalrymple has been promoted to the role of Managing Director, with Kevin Thelwell taking on the position of Sporting Director.
Dalrymple has been at Wolves for almost two years as Head of Commercial Affairs, and is relishing the challenge of using his experience and developing existing working relationships to make the step up.
“I have been with this club for two years and Wolves is a club steeped in history with a huge tradition and a huge and loyal fanbase,” says Dalrymple.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be given this role to take the club forward at what is such an exciting time.
“I was delighted to be asked to take on the role by Jeff (Shi), who was keen to find someone who had a deep understanding of club, culture and fanbase and strong working relationship with peers.
“It has been something of a transitional period recently so hopefully I will be well placed as someone who understands the philosophy of the club and wants to maintain that.
“There is a vision for Wolves going forward.
“We want to be winning football matches, we want to be playing exciting football and we want to develop a winning philosophy on and off the field.
“And we want to be playing our football in the Premier League and then staying there.
“What also comes from that is aiming to grow the club globally and get the stadium full on a regular basis.
“All of that is important, but the priority is to be in the Premier League.”
Dalrymple will be working closely with the representatives of the Fosun Group, particularly Jeff Shi and Sky Sun, as well as liaising closely with Thelwell and the football department.
As he explains.
“All the on-field decisions will be taken by Kevin, Walter and the football department, and I am looking forward to supporting them in order to take the club forward,” says Dalrymple.
“I have a strong relationship with Kevin and we speak all the time.
“I have responsibility for the off-field activities, for the profitability of the football club and growing our revenues, moving forward.
“I have a close, working relationship with Jeff and Sky to help deliver that.”
Dalrymple has two years experience working as Wolves’ Head of Commercial Affairs, but also other high-profile roles on his CV which will have helped prepare for his new challenge at Molineux.
“I feel I have been building up to this position,” he explains.
“I have been with Wolves for almost two years and that has given me some good experience leading up to the role.
“I have worked with some of the biggest sporting brands and properties in the UK.
“I worked at the Ricoh Arena for several years as Commercial Director and that brought me a wealth of experience both commercially and operationally across a variety of different projects.
“I was also involved in the development of the new Wembley Stadium, and have filled strategic roles in the events and exhibitions sector which have provided me with valuable, global experience.
“Through a blend of those positions, and my involvement with Wolves, I think it stands me in good stead for this role.”
With the Fosun takeover, and a revamped coaching team headed up by Zenga, these are exciting times at Wolves, at the start of the latest attempt to try and reach the Premier League.
“I don’t think we can underestimate where the club can go,” added Dalrymple.
“Wolves has a huge amount of history, and now we are in one of the most exciting times of maybe the last 50 years.
“The ambition and desire has always been there – what we have now is the additional backing in order to try and increase our chances of reaching the Premier League and increasing our fanbase.
“The Championship is an extremely difficult league and we all know how hard it is to get promoted.
“But we firmly believe this is going to be a very positive season.
“There is a lot of responsibility for me in this role and a lot of expectation, but I am very comfortable with that.
“Hopefully the fans will trust us, and continue to support us, as we all aim to perform as well as we can and continue to grow as a club.”
