Will Swan: How coronavirus lockdown led academy forward to Nottingham Forest debut

Credit: Nottingham Forest FC

Making his Nottingham Forest debut in front of an empty City Ground was far from ideal. For Will Swan, however, it was a lifetime ambition achieved after months of commitment and dedication during the national lockdown.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton was ready to make the final roll of the dice as his side looked for an equaliser against Swansea City. “Swanny!”, the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss beckoned. The Reds, heading towards their third defeat on the bounce, desperately needed a goal and hope was put on academy graduate and debutant Will Swan to rescue them.

Coming onto the City Ground pitch on that wet, wintery afternoon was the reward of several months of hard work for Swan. It was hardly an ideal scenario, however. On the pitch, the 20-year-old was unable to find the net in that late November game, and the coronavirus pandemic meant that instead of running out to thousands in the crowd, just a handful of individuals consisting of players, club staff and the media could witness the moment in the flesh.

“The first-team chance took me by surprise really,” said Will to Forest Review, the club’s matchday programme. “I was doing well with the Under 23s but to be thrown into it and put on in the Swansea game was amazing.

“It is incredible, it is what I have been working towards for the last seven or eight years, my whole life really, so to be given a chance this season I am really grateful to the gaffer.

He added: “It wouldn’t be the same experience as with the fans there, I would have preferred that obviously, but I take what I can get with the way the world is at the minute. The fans weren’t allowed in but I was just happy to get on the pitch.”

The complete revolution of life caused by the pandemic has led thousands to pick up new hobbies, find new fitness routines or even experiment in the kitchen. To Swan, the suspension of football in March gave him the perfect opportunity to kick on and target a spot with the first-team.

After years of struggling with injuries – including a series of setbacks due to a niggling hamstring problem – a conscious decision to get a personal trainer for the duration of the national lockdown, along with plenty of hard work and mental determination, meant the 20-year-old forward had completed his dream.

“We all knew he was going to end up in the first team on the first day back after lockdown when he blew everyone away in the running session,” said Swan’s former academy coach Chris Cohen, now at the Reds’ Championship rivals Luton Town, about the striker. Having begun the pandemic a middle-of-the-pack runner, he returned to leave everyone gasping for breath while he stormed away in the first training session back.

For those with close relationships with the Mansfield-based forward, it was hardly a surprise that Will had made his Forest debut. Two prolific goalscoring spells for the Under 23s, sandwiched around nine goals in nine matches while on loan with non-league side Truro City, meant that it had always been a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.

“It became apparent from early doors that a few kids of a similar age were standing out from the norm and had a natural ability,” said Jon Bagshaw, coach at Will’s former grassroots team.

“At four or five years old he’d take the ball and would run around children sometimes twice his age. His talent stood out at a jolt.”

Just over a week after making his debut, Will, a brother to two older sisters, put pen to paper on a new long-term deal retaining his services at the City Ground until June 2024. The forward has found minutes hard to come by following Lewis Grabban’s return from injury, but he proves to be the latest success story coming out of the Forest academy.

Forest are certainly no strangers when it comes to producing talent. Of the current 25-man squad, seven have come through the youth ranks in West Bridgford – the latest name to roll off the conveyor belt of talent and begin to make an impression on the first team being the 20-year-old Swan.

From experienced individuals such as Michael Dawson to the creativity of Joe Lolley – the Nigel Doughty Academy, named after the Reds’ popular former owner, has borne fruit on a regular basis. Following in the footsteps of the aforementioned players, all players of which have made it through the academy and established themselves in the first team, Swan certainly has a lot of characters around him to help further his development. For now, the priority is to continue gaining minutes and take advantage of the valuable opportunities while with the first team.

“I want to play in as many games as I can, or even go out on loan and play some games somewhere else just to get some more experience of playing men’s football,” Will explained. “I just want to play as much as I can, score some goals as I am always looking to improve.”

An injury to Lewis Grabban earlier in the year allowed Swan to arrive as a fringe first-team player, but the 20-year-old has since moved to Port Vale on a loan deal as he seeks more minutes.

As Will’s former boss at Truro City, Paul Wotton, said: “you need a bit of luck along the way, but he’s doing great at the minute”. Based on Will’s previous attitude, however, the talented forward knows exactly what he can control to give himself the best opportunities with Nottingham Forest.