Nottingham Forest are getting ready for a historic season for the team as they embark on their inaugural WSL 2 campaign.
The Midlands outfit walked the National League Northern Premier Division last season, going undefeated with 18 wins and four draws. Carly Davies will now have the task of taking her side to the next level as they look to pick up where they left off last season.
Nat Johnson joined the club in August 2023 from Lewes FC. The defender was part of a Forest team that finished twelve points off top in the 23/24 season, before they achieved glory in emphatic fashion just one season later.
Johnson spoke to VAVEL at the St. George’s Park media day ahead of the upcoming Women’s Super League 2 campaign.
Preparing for the season ahead
After a fantastic 24/25 campaign, the mood within the Forest camp is at an all-time high, with many eager to get started and excitement building around new arrivals at the City Ground.
Johnson put emphasis on the excitement that has been built around the new season.
"It's good. I think for us, obviously newly promoted, there's a lot of excitement about a lot of new faces coming through the building. So, it's been a lot of getting to know each other on and off the pitch, working hard, but mainly excited."
The WSL 2 will be a step-up from the National League Northern Premier Division that Forest featured in last year. But Johnson and her team remain confident ahead of this new campaign.
"As a team, I just think we're ambitious. We're pushing this year to show the league what we're about and that we deserve to be here."
A tougher competition
Nottingham Forest cruised their way past opponents last season, outplaying any team they came against. A tougher league will, of course, bring some stubborn opposition. Consistency will be key for Forest as Johnson spoke on the importance of maintaining the same mentality that they had last year.
"Yeah, I think the lessons we've learnt over the last two years trying to get promoted are going to be really important.
"We'll take the values that Carly (Davies) has instilled in us, like the girls that were here last year, we can instil those in the new girls. I think we won't change too much about how we go about things, but obviously we're going to have to up everything a little bit to compete."
The defender also stated that Forest have been preparing for the change in tempo in pre-season - an aspect that is suspected to be a challenge faced in stepping up divisions.
"I think the physicality and the tempo in the Championship is going to be a lot bigger than it was last year for us. But I think obviously in pre-season, we're trying to prep for that. So yeah, I think getting used to that sort of physical edge is going to be a bit of a challenge."
Working under Carly Davies
Appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest three days before Johnson's move to the club, Carly Davies has been vital in helping the club reach the next level, leading her side to a league and cup double in just her second season in charge.
Johnson believes Davies has also been an important part of her personal development as a football player.
"Yeah, I love working under Carly. I think we've got a good relationship.
"I think what I've learnt from Carly is a lot of technical, tactical detail. She's really on it with details and I think when you're a player of my age, I've been at a few clubs, worked for a few managers, but having that extra detail from Carly has really helped me grow my game. So yeah, I love working with her."
Last season, Forest played all their home matches at the City Ground and will continue to do so in the opening match of the season against Newcastle. It is one of the historic grounds in English Football and a special one for players to play at. Johnson stated how special it is to walk out ground and that she felt privileged to be able to call it home.
"It's so special and I feel like the goosebumps when the crowd is singing when we walk out, that's not worn off for me. I've been doing it for a season now and I just can't wait to get back out there. I think it's a real special feel at the City Ground.
"It's such a historic stadium. So yeah, I feel very privileged that we get to call that our home ground. I know a lot of clubs have been working really hard to get to that point, so yeah, I feel privileged to play in there every week and I just love it."
A player who will be featuring at the City Ground regularly for Forest next season will be Freya Thomas, signed in the same season as Johnson and touted by her teammate as a player to look out for in this campaign.
"I think that she's an unreal player.
"She's been in the Championship before when she was a bit younger, but I think she's grown over the last few years into a player that's going to be a bit unstoppable really in the midfield. You can't catch her if you tried. So, I think the growth I've seen of her over the last few seasons, I can't wait to see how she does in the Championship"
Learnings from last season
Despite being a dominant force in the third tier of English football last season, Johnson insisted that she had still learnt some valuable lessons throughout her time in the division.
"Yeah, I think especially in tier 3, you can't win every game by playing pretty football. There were games that we had to win it not pretty and change the way we played so that we could beat the opposition. I think for us, especially the last couple of seasons, it was learning how to win, however that might look.
"I think that will pay off in the Championship because there's going to be games where we'll have a lot of ball and games where we won't have ball. So yeah, I think those lessons more than anything."
Summer Signings and a message to supporters
With promotion to a higher division of course comes a series of new signings to help bolster the squad ahead of the new campaign. Sometimes, a lot of new players means that the squad will need time to gel. However, Johnson says that the new players have fit straight in and have had no issues bonding with the team.
"They've settled in so great. We've got some really good people first and foremost coming in and obviously great players in the same breath. So, they've sort of been trickling in as the pre-season has gone on, but they've just fit straight in.
"It's like they've always been here. There's no issues with bonding off the pitch or anything like that. So yeah, they've all just fit in seamlessly and brought some real experience, which we needed."
The supporters will undoubtedly be excited to watch both the new and returning players in competitive action at the City Ground this coming weekend. Johnson hopes that Forest can entertain the fanbase with some high-quality football this coming campaign. The defender sent this message to the fans:
"I just hope you're as excited as we are. They've supported us through promotion and I'm really glad that we can reward them with some hopefully top-quality championship football.