Nottingham Forest have been charged with breaching the Premier League profitability and sustainability regulations and will now be sent to an independent regulator.
What have Forest done?
In a short and hopefully less confusing description, Forest have been charged for having losses above the thresholds that cover 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2022/23. Over these three seasons, Forest’s permitted losses are lower than other Premier League clubs due to playing in the Championship twice; the average Premier League team will have maximum losses of £105 million, whilst Forests is a whopping £44 million less, putting them at £61 million, which does not make sense leaving promoted clubs at a considerable disadvantage. As expected, Nottingham Forest’s losses are above the three-season threshold period. The main reasons for this are the £250 million spent on players and the sale of Brennan Johnson sale. The massive influx of players coming in will always play a factor towards P&S; whether the majority of these signings were needed is a different story, but because of the mass departure of players after the promotion season, Marinakis delivered his promise of supplying “ammunition”, but this would always come at a cost. The second factor is the sale of Welsh winger Brennan Johnson; Forest held the sale of Johnson until the correct value of the transfer came in, which saw the winger leave the club for an extra £10 million than what other clubs were offering, the club kept in contact with the Premier League over this as if they sold before the accounting deadline they would have lost a lot of money.
Statement & Intentions
Monday, January 15th, the club was charged with breaching the P&S with a statement saying, “The club intends to continue to cooperate fully with the Premier League on this matter and are confident of a speedy and fair resolution.” But what does speedy look like in this situation? From now until the 5th of April, the club will prepare and complete all hearings for the charges, with highly regarded lawyer Nick De Marco taking the reins to help prevent Forest from being severely punished. The following key date for The Garibaldi is a week later when the decision for the charges will be made where the club can be punished for the charges, which they are hoping will be a fine; a seven-day appeal window will be open for Forest, if necessary, which will be concluded on May 24th, five days after the season ends…
More on De Marco: if you want a sports lawyer, he is the go-to, experienced in commercial law and has acted for over 45 English clubs ranging from top to bottom whilst also doing player-specific cases, including Harry Toffolo’s hearing against the FA, bringing the charge down from a five-month suspension to a suspended suspension and a fine. The previous QPR director has acted in nearly all high-profile FFP cases; as I said before, Nick De Marco is the perfect barrister to get the club out of trouble.
What next?
So, if an appeal is needed and favours Forest, it means that any outcome is possible from now until after the end of the season, which, as cliché as it may seem, Forest need to focus on their own game and continue the positive work made under Nuno. Since coming in, the progression has been night and day with the Portuguese manager, and whatever is going on off the field, Nuno needs to make sure the players have the siege mentality to push on and concentrate on the tough few months ahead and try to make any fear of a point penalty insignificant, easier said than done. The fans will need to play a part in backing the team as we have done before; making the City Ground a fortress like it was last season would play a crucial role.
One of my favourite Forza displays was the game against Swansea with the banner saying “Nottingham Forest. No matter what. We’ll be behind you. And we’ll never stop.” It’s a simple saying but one that can be used ideally to describe how we should react—it’s time to roll up our sleeves and crack on with the season.
*Article provided by Pierce Bramwell (Nottingham Forest Correspondent).
*Main image @NFFC the City Ground and Nottingham Forest is undergoing scrutiny from the Premier League.