Rarely do footballers cite their club’s owner as the key reason behind a major career decision. The script often mentions managers, teammates, fans or wider ambition – but not the typically silent powerbroker, their overarching employer.
Like church and state, shareholders and players often don’t cross streams, which is why their praises aren’t usually sung by the names on the back of the shirts they sell. Yet when Morgan Gibbs-White addressed the world after penning a shock contract extension at Nottingham Forest, the imposing influence of ownership was present for everyone to see.
