Ryan Yates is sitting down in the training dome at the Nigel Doughty Academy to reflect on a thoroughly memorable season when the conversation turns to darts.
Not a discussion on Luke Littler or Michael van Gerwen. Rather, the Reds captain is pointing out that a simple darts board is a symbol of how Forest have improved over the past 12 months.
It might only be a small thing but it is part of a bigger picture. The tiny details, Yates says, really count and make a significant difference. It is all part of creating the right culture.
Forest have gone from relegation battlers to European qualifiers; from 17th in the Premier League one year to seventh the next. They didn’t quite hit the Champions League bullseye, but the addition of a darts board in the lounge area at the training ground sums up a key factor behind their rise.
The foundations were put in place during what is widely regarded at the club as having been an important pre-season in 2024. It was head coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s first real opportunity to work with his group for an extended period of time, having been appointed midway through the previous campaign, and he more than made the most of it.
Bonds were forged and ideas were put across. Securing a place in Europe for the first time in three decades and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup proved to be the rewards.
“It started the moment Nuno walked through the door, to be honest. He gave us that consistency," Yates says. “Obviously he has emotions, but he was very consistent through the highs and the lows. He worked out what was best for our team.
“He came in at an extremely difficult point last season where we had the points deduction and relegation looked like it could potentially happen. It was tough for us as a group. But we got through that and we said to ourselves in pre-season that it can never happen again.
“We had quality in the dressing room last season and added to that with some fantastic additions in the summer. It was just many things - the whole culture of the club, changes at the training ground, the staff and just the small, small details that go a long way to making it like we're a really, really top football club in the Premier League. Even things like the chefs, the nutrition, things you guys don't see too much but they're the details that can really make a difference."
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So what changed? What went on the menu that wasn't there before?
“It was all fillet steak," Yates laughs. "No, it was just the quality of everything. They changed the canteen to be more open plan, more kitchen staff, more physios so the players could have more attention, the dartboard. I could go on about the details.
“It’s just the small things that really do make a difference. That obviously comes from the investment of the owner (Evangelos Marinakis) and where he sees the football club going.
“Not only have the players bought into that, but also the staff. If the staff are happy, that's going to ultimately help the players as well."
Has he got a darts name? Surely he has?
“Me? No. Find me one and I'll use it," the academy graduate says with a grin.
Fair enough. But who is the best? That's what everyone really wants to know.
“I'd put myself right up there, you know. But the staff have got their little darts group. I'm saying about the culture with the players, but the staff are bringing the good vibes to the training ground!"
It turns out several of the Forest coaching staff play darts at home and speak to each other via Bluetooth headphones. Three or four of them will be on a group call while throwing arrows.
On the pitch, meanwhile, it is metaphoric punches the players have been landing. They have mixed it with the big boys and dished out a fair few blows.
Yates singles out the Christmas period, when the Reds won seven games in a row in all competitions, as the “wow” moment when he realised something special was brewing. In the end, Forest didn’t quite manage to hang on to the top-five spot they had occupied for so long, but the UEFA Conference League awaits as they prepare to test themselves on the continent next term.
Yates, though, is certain this is just the start for the Reds. Pushing on again will not be easy, but the 27-year-old midfielder is confident the building blocks are in place.
“I think maintaining this is probably going to be the hardest thing,” he admits. “But when you've put in incredible foundations, when you've signed amazing players and amazing people, when you've got an owner who supports the club through thick and thin and who wears his heart on his sleeve, then you'd like to think that there's going to be solid foundations moving forward.
“For me personally, ever since I've been at the club, there is just something about Forest. When it clicks, it's just so special - the City Ground, the fans, the song before the game.
“I just feel everything's come together this year. There are many, many details that go into it, but a bit like the promotion season, it just gives me that same sort of feeling.
“It took us a couple of years to find that stability. When this club gets momentum, it's unstoppable. It's been a really, really positive season.”
Overseeing it all has been Nuno. The handpan-playing, ketchup-loving, diving aficionado has taken Forest forward.
“He's a very special man,” says Yates. “Very different to anything I've come across before.
“More than anything, he's obviously incredible at his job. To orchestrate Forest to their first European success in 30 years, it speaks for itself. It's incredible.
“Look at what he's achieved in his short period at the club. If anything, it should be exciting to see what we can build further. I think it's a really exciting time to be part of Nottingham Forest, whether you're a player or someone from the outside.
“With Nuno, his actions speak louder than his words. The trust he puts in me and the other leadership guys is really big, especially at the start of the season and in pre-season with team meals and things like that.
“My job has been to lead from example and do the things that I've always been doing at the football club, driving standards and trying to be the absolute best I can be. I feel like people see that and understand that's what it takes to play for this club.
“There's just such a drive from every single person in the building, whether that be the players, the staff - upstairs or downstairs - wanting to do everything they can to help the team achieve. That bond and that culture has grown.
“I speak so much about culture, but this season has proved to me how important culture is. It starts from the top with the owner's ambition and filters down to us players and staff. It’s obviously easier when you’re winning and it’s positive, but everyone wants that success for Nottingham. It's been really good, and long may it continue.”
Driving standards is also what Yates does. He has been at the City Ground since the age of eight. Forest had just got promoted to the Championship at the time; now youngsters coming through the ranks can look to him and say they are at a club which has been pushing to be in the Champions League.
“Exactly,” Yates laughs. “They should just be happy we’re in the Prem! They don't know they're born!”
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