Nicola Cave

Nicola Cave is the Governance and Training Manager and Company Secretary at the Football Supporters’ Association.

A mum of two young boys, Nicola is also the volunteer matchday announcer at Southport Football Club as well as Chair of Governors for a local authority-maintained pre-school.

Nicola has spent the last decade delivering training and supporting football fans and clubs on governance practices, developing accessible resources, providing specialist governance advice and contributing to large-scale projects such as the Fan-Led Review of Football Governance, which led to the recent Football Governance Act 2025.
A key element of Nicola’s role is enabling supporters to own and run their football clubs sustainably and democratically. She provides ongoing support and works closely with a number of community-owned football clubs, including AFC Wimbledon and Exeter City FC.

Nicola also specialises in helping football supporter groups and volunteers operate efficiently and credibly to ensure they have a seat at the table when it comes to the running of their clubs. She leads on developing best-practice guidance and template structures for Fan Advisory Boards and other engagement models. Nicola has built strong relationships with key stakeholders, including the Financial Conduct Authority, attending and contributing regularly to round-table discussions with other sponsoring bodies across a wide range of sectors, showcasing and sharing the good governance strategies which she has been pivotal in developing.

Developing brand-new constitutions for supporters groups and model rules for supporters trusts and supporter-owned clubs which are simple, easy to operate under and accessible to all supporters, Nicola works hard to make sure all who want to be engaged with the governance aspects of their clubs or supporters’ organisations have access to the right tools and ongoing support.

Football isn’t just a career for Nicola. Having attended Southport FC with her father since birth, she met her husband whilst volunteering at the club and is personally invested in the important role football clubs play in their communities beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch.

Nicola’s driving philosophy is to demystify governance and provide accessible, clear training and resources to help supporters and clubs at all levels of the game put in place governance structures that allow them to focus on achieving their goals by making good governance practices second nature.