There’s no dressing room more together in the Premier League right now than Nottingham Forest and the freedom to express oneself in Nuno Espírito Santo’s side may be key to that.
“It’s the best dressing room I’ve ever been in,” Morgan Gibbs-White reveals from the City Ground after training. “I can’t name the biggest character because we have so many. It’s impossible.”
The vibe around West Bridgford is electric, just as it has been since September. Forest, who narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League last season, have proven all their critics wrong just short of a year on as they sit third in the Premier League with just ten games left to play, leaving them in contention for not just European football, but Champions League qualification.
Making his professional debut aged just sixteen, Gibbs-White, now twenty-five, sees himself regularly captaining Forest in the absence of Ryan Yates and has fine-tuned his game to become one of the most talented midfielders in the league – netting five goals during the 2024/25 campaign so far and making his senior England debut in the same season.
“I’m a very vocal leader,” he says. “So I get myself motivated by speaking and helping others. It’s an honour for me to captain such a historic football club. I also like to show on the pitch that I’m a leader by picking the ball up, or creating chances and just setting the tempo of the game.
“The manager helps that as well. He’s brought that togetherness, that motivation back into the group.
“We’ve definitely seen an improvement in the dressing room this year since the start of pre-season. I feel like everyone is together. The vibes good at the minute and I think it shows on the pitch.”
The Forest dressing room feels like an open invitation for fans. With so many of the squad sharing behind-the-scenes clips and snaps of the team when they are off the pitch, it’s hard not to connect with these loveable characters.
“Harry Toffolo,” Gibbs-White names as the biggest character in the dressing room. “He’s just one of those people that are just so quick with answers, they’re so sharp with it. And then Ola Aina, Ola brings the vibes and good energy.”
The Forest boys are also known for their training ground arrival fits. One look across Instagram will show that not many clubs can compete in the styling department.
But carrying this tag comes with competition and rivalry within the squad to claim the best-dressed in the squad title is fierce.
“Me,” Gibbs-White is quick to claim before going on to name Anthony Elanga and Ola Aina next in line. “Ola can put it on. Cal [Callum Hudson-Odoi] is in his own little zone he just loves designer.”
“It works for him, it suits him, but it’s not for me.”
What is for Gibbs-White? We hear you ask.
“My style is probably minimalistic. I’d say it’s very subtle. It’s changed so much, ever since I was 16, to now it’s changed. The 16-year-old me would look at me now and be like, what are you doing? But now I look back at myself then and I get the ick.”
“Fashion is big in the dressing room. There’s been a lot of competition and a few wild, crazy fits. Some people have been on Ola’s Snapchat for their fits. Everyone expresses themselves in different ways and it’s good to see it, when the cameras are out it’s good to see what people come in.”
Aside from the football, the fashion and the sporting success – there’s something else that identifies Gibbs-White, fatherhood.
The midfielder and his partner Britney De Villiers welcomed their son Greyson to the world in 2023.
“There’s one thing I will say, no one in the world can prepare you for a child. You’ll never be ready for it.
“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, but also the hardest. He’s an incredible little boy. Everything that I do now is for him. I have to think before I do things now just because of him, which is also scary. But no, it’s the best gift anyone could ever have.”
“He’s made me more mature on and off the pitch. Everything I do is for him.”
Magical, tough, rewarding – these are the three words Gibbs-White leaves us with when we ask him to define fatherhood. It’s a journey and a blessing, much like his career on the pitch.
