When he was growing up in Ilorin, Nigeria, Taiwo Awoniyi had to be fiercely practical to fulfil his football dream.
His family were unable to pay for the boots he required to play and train in. So, when he found himself with only a damaged pair, he found another that had been thrown away and glued and sewed them together.
Advertisement
Resourcefulness and determination have been a core part of his character throughout his journey to the Premier League. Those traits will be called upon now after he was placed into an induced coma following the serious abdominal injury he suffered in Nottingham Forest’s game against Leicester City on Sunday.
Taiwo Awoniyi is treated on the pitch after Sunday’s incident (Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
Awoniyi, a devout Christian, is often described as being warm and friendly by his team-mates — a nice man. Somebody whose trademark broad smile is a constant.
At Forest he is fondly known simply as ‘T’, a nickname that is the physical representation of his broad-shouldered frame.
His early resilience was rewarded when he represented Nigeria at the Under-17 World Cup in 2013, helping them to lift the trophy with four goals. He represented his country in the Under-20 World Cup in 2015, shortly after winning the African Under-20 Championship. All of that was enough to persuade then Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp of his potential, with Awoniyi joining via a £400,000 ($533,000 at current rates) move from the Imperial Soccer Academy.
Awoniyi had another hurdle to overcome when issues over his work permit meant he never made a senior appearance for Liverpool — and left him to lead a nomadic existence, which involved seven loan moves to clubs including FSV Frankfurt, Mainz (both Germany), NEC (Netherlands) and Gent (Belgium).
But it was a move to Union Berlin in 2020 that kickstarted his career. The two years Awoniyi spent there, the first being on loan, were a very special time for the club. They had just been promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time the year before, and were a close group of players with a common cause under head coach Urs Fischer.
Union gave Awoniyi a foothold in the professional game. Finally, he had a proper footballing home.
His first season coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown and, initially, that kept him at arm’s length from the fans. That period of playing in empty stadiums must have been unbearable for a club where the fans are the lifeblood, and for a player who, so often in the months after, seemed powered by the energy from the stands.
Advertisement
Year two, though, when the crowds came back and Awoniyi became a permanent Union player — a fussballgott — was a different matter. The season before, Union had qualified for European football for the first time and Awoniyi went on to score the club’s first goal in the Europa Conference League, in the play-offs, against Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura.
And he just kept scoring. Fifteen in the league alone. Right foot, left foot, power, speed, technique. Awoniyi was the perfect fit for Fischer’s football, which depended on a rigid defence and a white-hot counter, but he was ruthlessly efficient, too. But there was more to it than that. Find some of his post-game interviews. He was not in Germany long enough to master the language, but he had a go and was happy to try out what he knew into a live microphone — always with a giggle.
He also scored the goal which secured Union’s qualification for the Europa League, prodding home late against Bochum in front of the ultras at the Alte Forsterei to start a wild celebration, with him underneath a big pile of Union players and the club’s mascot, Ritter Keule.
Later, as the fans gathered in front of the stadium, he grabbed a microphone and led them in chanting his own name. It is a special memory for anyone lucky enough to have been there. Awoniyi would never play for Union again, but nobody will forget his role in their journey. Speaking to The Athletic, a club spokesperson described him as “a beautiful, gentle soul. We all just hope he gets better”.
In late June 2022, Awoniyi became one of 22 signings in a remarkable summer at Nottingham Forest. With the club having paid £17.5m to Union for the then 24-year-old, he was also the club’s record signing. But, even with the status that brought, within two months of his arrival, Awoniyi had found the time to finish a business management degree at Buckinghamshire University.
Advertisement
Forest themselves had put plenty of research into his signing, with the Bundesliga regarded as a good-value source of quality additions. He had been on their watch list for months, long before promotion had been secured via the Championship play-offs. The recruitment team, led by George Syrianos — who had moved from Stuttgart to Forest himself in 2021 — felt Awoniyi was equipped to replace the physical presence of Keinan Davis, who had been on loan from Aston Villa during the promotion push.
When he arrived in Nottingham, Awoniyi was a little shy and withdrawn but quickly became more confident and established himself as a popular figure.
But he is not always easy on the eye. He can look a clumsy, uncertain presence at times. In training sessions following his move, his tentative performances only helped to solidify such opinions, even despite the fact he scored Forest’s first Premier League goal in 23 years, in a 1-0 win over West Ham United.
When Syrianos and head scout Andy Scott departed the club in October 2022, the lack of impact made by Awoniyi — a player Syrianos in particular had championed — was a factor. But there was always a belief that Awoniyi would come good; that his capabilities would shine through. And they did. In emphatic, vital fashion.
Behind the scenes the club realised they had been too quick to rush to judgement on a player who can look unorthodox, while still being effective. By the following summer, the opinion had changed so significantly that they had even reappointed Syrianos, who is now the global technical director across the Evangelos Marinakis multi-club group, which also includes Olympiacos in Greece and Portugal’s Rio Ave.
Awoniyi scored the goals that kept Forest in the Premier League. They would not be where they are now without him.
GO DEEPER
Taiwo Awoniyi, Evangelos Marinakis and Nuno Espirito Santo – What happened?
His 10 league goals during the 2022-23 season were integral to Forest’s top-flight survival, with six of them coming in the final four games as Steve Cooper’s side edged themselves over the finishing line. Awoniyi’s goal against Arsenal at the City Ground on May 20, 2023 remains one of the most memorable moments of recent years at Forest, as it secured the 1-0 victory that was enough to ensure a second consecutive season in the top flight.
Advertisement
His goal (also in a 1-0 home win) against Liverpool the previous October was another massive contribution, helping to win a game that convinced Forest they did belong at this level. Cooper had assured Awoniyi he would be a potent weapon if he could lure the Liverpool defenders into a physical battle. He was right.
The striker is an explosive presence on the pitch. His style of play pushes his body to its physical limits. That has perhaps been a factor in the injury issues that have limited his impact over the past two seasons. Those 10 league goals in 2022-23 came from 17 starts and 10 substitute appearances, as he dealt with a groin issue which ruled him out between early January and the start of April, causing him to miss 13 straight games.
While he began the following campaign with another three goals, the injury problems returned. Overall, he scored six goals in 12 starts and eight substitute appearances in the Premier League, but further treatment to repair a groin injury left him sidelined from mid-November to late January. A thigh injury later ruled him out for six weeks in March and April.
Last summer, he missed Forest’s pre-season training camp in Spain because of a family issue, which left him playing catch-up on his sharpness, while the form of Chris Wood — he scored his 20th Premier League goal of the campaign against Leicester at the weekend — has meant he has been relegated to a peripheral role.
Awoniyi has started three league games, while making a further 23 substitute appearances. His one Premier League goal came in a 3-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in January. He also scored in the FA Cup at Exeter City when given a starting opportunity — and suffered a badly broken nose.
The manner in which he threw himself bravely at Anthony Elanga’s cross on Sunday afternoon, before colliding with the upright, perfectly epitomises the bravery and determination that Awoniyi possesses.
(Top photo: Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)
