Nisotaki promoted to Assistant Head of Recruitment by Norwich City
Mariela Nisotaki: First joined Norwich in 2016
Written by Simon Austin — September 6, 2024
Mariela Nisotaki has been promoted to Assistant Head of Recruitment at Norwich City as she continues her pioneering path in the game.
The 35-year-old joined the Canaries in 2016 and has held a variety of recruitment roles, including Lead Recruitment Analyst, European and Domestic Lead Scout and Head of Emerging Talent.
Appearing on the TGG Podcast in 2022 (which you can listen to below), Nisotaki admitted she had not encountered any other female scouts at games in the UK - and only two abroad.
“Andrea Orts and Helena Costa are the only two scouts I have met in the stadiums,” she said. “Helena works for Eintracht Frankfurt and Andrea for Espanayol. I don’t think a lot about it (being a woman in scouting) or let it influence my job. If I can motivate or inspire other women, then great. “We just have to be confident and work hard.”
In her new role, Nisotaki will work closely with Norwich’s Head of Recruitment Lee Dunn, who has been with the club for 11 years. Nisotaki, who is originally from Greece, was a sports-mad youngster who was fond of the Football Manager computer game.
“I remember my father saying, ‘Why do you know all these players? Is that any use to you?’ she remembered in an interview with Greece’s Sport 24 in 2016.
Having worked as a football coach in her homeland, she completed a Masters in Performance Analysis at Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2016, but before even graduating had landed a job in the analysis department at Swansea City. There were 160 applicants for two first-team performance analysis jobs and Nisotaki managed to make it through.
The department developed quickly under manager Garry Monk and in the 2016 interview Nisotaki said: “Five years ago, there was no analyst. Now, there is a team of six.”
A short spell as Lead Performance Analyst at Atromitos in Athens followed before Nisotaki got the job of First Team Technical Analyst at Norwich in January 2017.
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