EXCLUSIVE 'None of this would have happened to Taiwo if the flag had gone up': Nottingham Forest star Ola Aina opens up on his team-mate's horror injury and YouTube fame

Daily Mail​

14-05-2025

The really upsetting thing for everybody at Nottingham Forest is that, as their friend and club mate Taiwo Awoniyi lies stricken in hospital, they know that none of this needed to have happened at all.
Had an assistant referee put her flag up as a clearly offside Anthony Elanga ran on to a through ball late in Forest's 2-2 draw against Leicester on Sunday, there would have been no cross to the far post.
There would have been no collision between Awoniyi and the frame of the goal.
It's a relatively new rule – the one that tells assistants like Sian Massey-Ellis to wait until the passage of play is over before signalling - but it's long since felt like an accident waiting to happen. And now the accident is here and Awoniyi is the victim.
'Anthony was miles offside,' nods Forest right-back Ola Aina.
'The whole world could see and so could I from where I was.
'You think 'offside' straight away. Surely you could just lift the flag up?
'Personally I liked how it was back in the day when for offside they just put it up straight away.
'A simple decision and get on with the game.
'Having to see it out and then just see this happen….well none of this would have happened to 'T' if the flag had just gone up would it?
'I mean…'
Aina is sitting with Mail Sport for an interview arranged a while ago. The 28-year-old is one of Forest's – maybe one of English football's – most engaging and charismatic characters.
He is an artist, a YouTuber, a Christian and – as it happens – a very good footballer. He will be in many people's Premier League team of the year when those opinions start to be delivered over the next couple of weeks.
But circumstances have changed the nature and the rhythms of this conversation. There are some smiles along the way but equally it's hard to get away from a story that has dominated the news agenda since it unfolded on Sunday night.
'T is a very chilled guy,' Aina says quietly.
'He doesn't like to get in the way. He goes about his own business but he can have fun as well.
'He has been in a couple of my videos but I know he doesn't like the cameras too much so I try not to put them in his face. I respect that about him.
'I have sent him a message of course. The whole team has.
'I have heard he is recovering well so hopefully we will hear from him soon.
'I knew he had hurt himself at the time but just didn't realise it was to that extent. I only really heard when everyone was sending messages on our players group chat.
'We have a lot of things in common, me and Taiwo. Like our faith.
'But this is our team-mate and brother and someone we spend most of the year with day in day out.
'It affects everybody in some sort of way. All we can do is show our support and hopefully everything goes well for him now.'
Sunday's late drama prompted Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis to walk on to the field and question his manager Nuno Espirito Santo about why Awoniyi had initially been cleared to try and play on.
Much fuss has followed but Aina's perspective is that of a player and offers insight in to the way they are conditioned and programmed. Fall down, get up, carry on.
'When I saw T come back on I thought: 'He will run it off' or whatever,' he explains.
'I thought it was one of those things.
'I know from my experience that when I get hurt I think I can come back on. You don't wanna stop.
'The owner just wants us to do well. He set up the club and the team for success and, like everyone, is he is fully invested in how well we do and how big the club grows.
'I have nothing but praise for him. I am so grateful to him and what he does for the club.'
This has been a progressive Forest season, one that has surprised everybody inside and outside the City Ground.
It now sits at what feels like a critical juncture, however.
European football has already been assured for the next season and that's the first time that has happened by the Trent since the mid-1990s.
But nobody is pretending that a recent drop from the Champions League places that have been occupied for so many weeks and months has not affected the mood.
As we talk at Nottingham's Theatre Royal, next season's Forest kit launch is being prepared. As usual, the shirt will carry two stars above the badge – one for each of the European Cups won by Brian Clough's team in 1979 and 1980. This is what everybody at Forest wants next season to be about.
'It's frustrating,' says Aina.
'Myself and the team have worked so hard to put ourselves in the best situation.
'But sometimes football doesn't work the way you want it to, you know? These things happen.
'We are here now and have to deal with what's in front us.'
Specifically, what sits between Forest and Europe's big league is games at West Ham and then at home to Chelsea, the club where Aina started his career. Win both and they have a chance.
'Yeh, simple as….' says Aina, a smile returning.
'I think for the team and the club it's still massive whatever the competition is next season.
'The club have gone without it for so long. Europe is a massive achievement in itself.
'But speaking for myself, as players you dream and have ambitions so it is a bit frustrating. We just have to look at the positives. We are still gonna be in Europe somewhere.'
Perspective helps at times like this and Aina finds some in the road travelled. From time spent under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte at Chelsea – Conte gave him his two appearances – to spells on loan at Hull and then Torino in Italy.
Hull was a culture shock – 'Have you been?' he jokes – while Turin was also, if for different reasons.
Aina then spent five years with Italian side Torino where he came up against Cristiano Ronaldo
While in Italy, he endeavoured to speak the language and made the most of the afternoon spent marking Cristiano Ronaldo, who was playing for Juventus at the time.
'I really wanted to talk to him and couldn't wait until after the game,' he recalls.
'I said: 'Hello' during the game. He said: 'Hi, you alright?'.
'I wanted to chat. He gave me a little response and that was it. Then there was some back and forth but he didn't really respond.
'I can be a talker but I am not trying to get inside anyone's head.
'If I tackle someone, it will be: 'You alright mate? Let's go again'. That kind of thing. Nothing malicious, no mind games.
'I can do that but I don't really. I have done it before. In my academy days. It's not really me and I don't need it.
'But yeh, Hull and then Turin. It was a massive change from what I was used to at the time. I saw life as a bigger picture.
Perspective helps in these times with Awoniyi's injury and Aina finds some in the road travelled
Despite Forest's recent dip in form, Aina said they should be 'grateful' for where they are
'So we should be grateful to be in this position and be grateful for things we are fighting for. It's good to remember that.'
A gymnast and a long jumper as a kid in Essex, Aina was always quick but is not particularly interested in wearing it as a badge of honour.
Told in jest that he helped to signpost the end of Kyle Walker's Manchester City career by bursting past him at the City Ground last season, he isn't having it.
'Nah,' he says.
'I didn't think I was even gonna win that foot race. And the pass afterwards was wayward.
'He is still quick. Don't get twisted.
'Half of the people who think: 'He is done or whatever'. Put them in a foot race against him and see what happens. He's off, mate.
'To be honest I always wanted to play and be better on the ball. I didn't really see speed as a thing. Not really.
Aina also touched upon his impressive pace, but wants to be known for his quality on the ball
The 28-year-old similarly leapt to the defence of Kyle Walker after his recent struggles
'I got older and I started to get exploited that way [by coaches] and only then did I realise being quick was actually a bit of a cheat code.
'But I think: 'I am footballer, not a sprinter'.
'You wanna be known for playing football.'
Walker – as it happens – is one of those who has already placed Aina in his team of the season.
'It's really nice and a good bonus to have,' he says.
'But those things only last for one season. They reset again next season. So it's about being consistent.'
It's not without pertinence that we are sitting in a theatre. Aina is artistic by default. His YouTube channel is getting him noticed as are his videos taken usually without warning in the Forest dressing room. Even Nuno was caught dancing in one of them.
At home, meanwhile, are a number of unfinished watercolours and drawings. He showed some to Gary Lineker during a recent podcast chat and they are impressive.
Has he sold any yet?
'No I should take it more seriously but I haven't yet,' he says.
Aina's YouTube channel is also thriving and getting the Forest defender noticed elsewhere
'It's been a hobby since school. I enjoy it and like it but haven't sold anything.
'I have made some stuff for people. My friend put one up in his house. An abstract painting.'
There is certainly some depth to Aina. He takes his faith seriously and is involved in the Ballers in God group set up by former Tottenham and Crystal Palace prospect John Bostock.
'I don't know how the two sides of my personality match up,' he nods.
'Other people have mentioned it.
'But God knows us all one by one and personally. If I am how I am – jovial and funny – then surely God knows who I am. Know what I mean?
'That's how I think it aligns perfectly if that makes sense.
'There are a few of us at Forest who are Christians.
Aina is a devout Christian and revealed several of his team-mates are also of the same faith
'Me, T, Anthony [Elanga], Callum (Hudson-Odoi), the Brazilians. We all believe in the same faith.
'You will see some of us wearing the Ballers In God socks and shinpads. It helps. It's all good.'
With his big hair and big shorts (size XXL worn because smaller ones make him 'uncomfortable') Aina has been a recognisable part of Forest's season in every way.
They will take their rope-a-dope tactics to West Ham on Sunday and hope for a kickstart. Nuno and his players have taken zero possession winning football to new levels this season, even it was kind of by accident.
'It was initially just about a basis of being solid,' he explains.
'Maybe we as players got carried away with the whole being solid thing but it worked.
'So when the season started to unfold a little bit it was like: 'What's going on here?'.
'Because of the players we have, we do actually like to play with the ball and we do in training.
The 28-year-old is full of praise for Marinakis and the ambitions he has for the club
Aina and Forest have two games still to come; a trip to West Ham and a home game vs Chelsea
He called for perspective after Awoniyi's injury and said Forest must take things in their stride
'You understand?
'We have good ball carriers and players who like to do one-twos. Good dribblers.
'The other thing was working, though, so we grew into it.'
Whether it is ultimately seen to have worked enough to take Forest where for so long they have seemed destined remains to be seen. Aina is in no doubt as to what the owner Marinakis wants.
'I wouldn't say he is buying in to being an underdog,' he explains.
'That's not what he wants.
'It's more that he knows the potential of the club to be able to compete season after season and challenge for things.
'He chats to players. Every time I see him it's: 'Hi, how are you doing?'.
'Short and sweet which I don't mind. He has things to do.'
Forest have things to do, too. Two games left. Two chances. But an understanding of big pictures also.
'You have to try and take things in your stride and be grateful for the situation you are in and hopefully the good things that may happen in the future,' explains Aina.
'Our team-mate hurt himself at the weekend. That's what matters. That's the perspective right there.'