Nottingham Forest have had a Football Association fine for failure to control their players reduced after an appeal.
The Reds were fined £125,000 for failing to control their players in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in October 2024. The Blues were hit with a £40,000 fine.
Both clubs were charged by the FA after it was alleged they failed to ensure their players ‘didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 88th minute’ of the game. A melee had broken out in the closing stages of the match sparked by Forest defender Neco Williams pushing Marc Cucurella, which caused the latter to knock down Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
Forest appealed against the decision and an independent appeal board has now partially upheld their appeal. The club’s fine has been reduced to £112,000, following a hearing held last Friday.
A statement from the FA said: “An independent appeal board has partially upheld an appeal by Nottingham Forest FC in relation to a breach of FA Rule E20.1. The FA charged Nottingham Forest FC and Chelsea FC with a breach of FA Rule E20.1 following the mass confrontation at their Premier League fixture on Sunday 6 October 2024.
“It was alleged that they failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 88th minute, and both clubs accepted this charge. An independent regulatory commission imposed a £125,000 fine on Nottingham Forest FC and a £40,000 fine on Chelsea FC following a hearing.
“Nottingham Forest FC subsequently appealed against its sanction. The appeal board partially upheld this appeal and reduced the club’s fine to £112,000 following a hearing.”
Explaining the outcome in their written reasons, the appeal board said: “We allow the appeal on the two identified specific grounds, under the umbrella of being decisions which no reasonable commission could have come to, namely: As supported by The FA that the credit for admitting the charge should be the same percentage as that granted to Chelsea F.C, given that both clubs admitted the charges against them at the earliest opportunity and the charges both arose from the same facts; and the finding, as an aggravating feature, that there was a lack of contrition on NFFC’s part, when in its written submissions to the commission it had said that ‘it regrets and sincerely apologises for what occurred’.
“Otherwise, the appeal is dismissed. The consequence is that pursuant to Fast Track 7, Regulations 18.1 and 18.2 we allow the appeal in part and reduce the sanction imposed by the commission from £125,000 to £112,000.”
In the original judgement, the Reds’ past disciplinary record and ‘lack of contrition’ had been deemed ‘aggravating’ factors and had resulted in them being issued with a larger fine than the Blues. Appealing the sanction, Forest suggested: “The commission failed to appropriately consider the club’s previous efforts to address conduct issues and the practical impact of this.”
However, the appeal board concluded: “In the appeal board’s view this is simply not a fair criticism of the commission in circumstances where NFFC did not present evidence of such efforts to the commission. The highest that it can be put for NFFC, based on its written submissions to the commission, is that it suggests that its players acted with considerable restraint in the circumstances described, which it said was reflective of the ‘steps it has taken’ to address the criticism in a previous E20 decision in January 2023, before adding that NFFC had reminded its players of their obligations under Rule E20.
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