Nottingham Forest win landmark legal battle in major embarrassment to the FA
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Jack Heath
Tue 2 September 2025 20:14, UK
Nottingham Forest have won a huge legal battle against the Football Association who have been left with egg on their faces as a result.
It seems the Garibaldi have been locked in legal struggles for much of their recent history, including securing promotion to the Europa League in place of Crystal Place.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found Crystal Palace to be in breach of the multi-club ownership rule which saw the Eagles demoted to the Conference League.
Forest took their place in the second-tier European competition and have now won another legal case in more elation for the club over potential bias.
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The Times (2 September) reported that “to the embarrassment” of the FA, they have been found against, and now will have to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds, including covering Forest’s legal fees.
To fully understand the background of the case, this timeline shows exactly how the case unravelled:
April 2024 – A 2-0 defeat by Everton was swamped by three disputed penalty appeals as Forest faced disciplinary proceedings.
The Garibaldi posted on X that they had told referee chiefs that the VAR official Stuart Attwell, who oversaw the match, was a fan of their relegation rivals Luton Town.
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Forest were charged £1million for “bring the game into disrepute” as the post was viewed nearly 40million times with the club filing an appeal against the fine.
The barrister Graeme McPherson KC was appointed to chair the disciplinary panel, and then the appeal as well, but Forest alleged he was “biased” after he said he rejected the “club’s somewhat hysterical submission” against the fine.
Forest objected to the second appointment due to the previous comments with McPherson removing himself as chair due to “pre-existing commitments”.
October 2024 – Forest drew 1-1 with Chelsea in a feisty affair that led to a mass confrontation with the Blues at Stamford Bridge.
The west London side were fined £40,000 with Forest charged £125,000.
The club appealed this decision as well, with McPherson once more appointed to chairing the disciplinary panel.
Nottingham Forest complained, stating that the appointment was unjust due to the “hysterical” comment, seeking an arbitration hearing to sort out the problem.
The arbitration panel has now sided with the club, concluding that this was “a case where apparent bias has been made out”.
The barrister McPherson challenged the view of the club but the panel for the hearing said his use of “hysterical” was “inherently highly pejorative”.
As a result of the hearing, the FA will have to pay for the cost of the tribunal, amounting to £105,750 plus VAT and the legal costs of Forest and their own.
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Football Insider verdict
The legal battles are just one of the things dominating the news at City Ground at the moment.
A reported clash between manager Nuno Espirito Santo and owner Evangelos Marinakis continues to bubble in the background with the international break offering a chance for the pair to sit down and talk over the current situation.
The Portuguese has been unhappy with the balance of his squad, yet the Greek owner has splashed the cash, bringing in four new players into the club alone on transfer deadline day.
Nuno Espirito Santo Nottingham Forest recordGames managed71Wins30Draws15Losses26(Source: Sofascore)
However, all the focus off the pitch may have had an effect on the team as the Garibaldi have just four points from a possible nine at the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
In particular, a shoddy West Ham side humbled them, making Marinakis potentially rethink how he wants to move forward with the former Tottenham manager.
It could be possible the Forest boss has taken the club as far as he can go with a new coach needed to take the side to the next level with European football in mind.