This More Than issue was shot in October 2023, in the meantime Tom Davies has faced some unexpected challenges due to an injury he suffered a few weeks after our meeting. In recent months, the Sheffield United midfielder has been working to return to the pitch as soon as possible, pursuing the sustainability-related projects that make him a great inspiration to the whole football world.

Buses and cars speeding in London traffic, the Shoreditch neighbourhood is an expression of a vision of the global city that is hard to find elsewhere in Europe. It's characterised by a contemporary outlook that has not kept pace with the cultural changes of the past half century. The morals and social values that need to be protected require a great deal of adaptability and responsibility by those who feel part of the whole and the individual players, all the more so when they happen to be a prominent figure whose job it is to inspire the collective. Several footballers in England have played his role over the years, yet Tom Davies, Sheffield United midfielder, represents a new generation of sportsmen who give voice to a collective conscience against inequality, waste and indifference through concrete actions. The star of the new edition of More Than, Davies told nss sports all about his passion for the world of fashion, the responsibility he holds as a player in one of Europe’s biggest leagues, and his fascination for Italy and old Serie A Jerseys.

Football and the role of people in society is a constant shift between the singular and the plural. Tom Davies has decided to take sides as an individual, founding ChopValue, a company that recycles bamboo chopsticks from restaurants to turn them into furniture and household items, creating a circular economy which prevents landfill and more trees being cut down. Since its foundation in 2016, ChopValue has recycled over 123 million chopsticks, reducing the dispersion of over six million kg of CO2 into the atmosphere. The company's challenge is to represent the change of perspective that brings waste to be a resource, and finally a design object, following the ideas of circular economy.
"Even when I buy clothes, I ask myself if I will still be wearing them in ten years' time, if I can give them away or recycle them". One of the most important points of Tom Davies' social commitment is in its communication, the real difference and added value between this generation and those of the past, as the Sheffield United number 22 tells nss sports: “for me, it's important to share everything with my fans because now there is a platform to do that. When I was younger I wished there were more footballers or musicians saying what we can do for the planet and how we can help it."

With Fashion Week being underway in London, we ask Tom Davies about the latest fashion and how the England footballer has always had a particular focus on his own style on and off the pitch, which is a necessary, instinctive, natural and liberating form of self-expression. "I've always loved brands like Gucci and Loewe. When I was younger, I was excited by the idea of being able to afford high fashion clothes. It was a world I had never explored before. I could be who I wanted to be through the clothes I wore". In a world like fashion, in which change is the only real driving force, even Tom Davies admits that his relationship with brands and collections has changed, and is now being guided by the values of sustainability. Instead of investing in big brands and trends, Tom tells nss sports that he now prefers buying items that will last him longer, clothes “that I really love, that I will wear again and again and that will last me a long time, at the moment I buy things that I think are right for Tom Davies, not that they are right for trends”.