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Nottingham Forest sent 'becoming a serial problem' warning as fine for Chelsea brawl explained
Nottingham Forest have been warned their disciplinary record is “becoming a serial problem”.
The Reds have been fined £125,000 for failing to control their players in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier this month. The Blues, by contrast, were hit with a £40,000 fine.
Both clubs were charged by the Football Association 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 broke 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.
The Reds’ past disciplinary record and “lack of contrition” were “aggravating” factors and resulted in them being issued with a larger fine than the Blues. In their written reasons for their decisions, the independent regulatory commission said: “There has been no evidence put forward to the Commission to demonstrate that the club (Forest) are addressing what is now becoming a serial problem.”
In their response to the charge, Forest said the mass brawl “was initiated” by Levi Colwill as he reacted “in an extremely aggressive manner” and was subsequently joined by teammates “who displayed similar levels of aggression”. The club argued the foul by Williams on Cucurella “did not justify the reaction” and said the Reds players who got involved were focused on “calming and diffusing” the situation.
The Reds also pointed out that during the scuffle Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson appeared to take a swipe at defender Morato’s face. The written reasons state: “It was further submitted that despite Mr Jackson slapping one of their players during the confrontation, their players reacted with commendable restraint; and this was reflective of the steps the club had taken to address the criticism it received in a previous case of a similar nature. It was also submitted that the club had reminded its players of their obligations under Rule E20 following this incident.”
The commission concluded: “It was evident that the foul by Mr Williams, the push, caused Mr Cucurella to collide with the manager resulting in the manager being knocked off his feet. Consequentially, this was the catalyst for the incident, and the reaction of both sets of players followed.”
The commission noted this was the third time in the last three years Chelsea had been involved in similar incidents. However, they pointed out this made it six incidents in the last three years where Forest were concerned - even though all but one of the five incidents highlighted occurred before Nuno Espirito Santo took charge.
The commission said: “The club failed to accept the part that Mr Williams’ conduct had played in the incident. The submission that the number of players involved, and the potential incitement of the crowd was solely attributable to the Chelsea players, specifically Mr Colwill and Mr (Wesley) Fofana, was not accepted and sought to contradict the evidence. But for Mr Williams actions, the incident would not have occurred. This may be viewed as simplistic, but it is obvious from the video evidence.”
Forest’s previous incidents of rule breaches highlighted by the commission were a £10,000 fine for an incident against Derby County in January 2022, a £25,000 fine for an incident against Crystal Palace in November 2022, a £40,000 fine for an incident against Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2023, a £55,000 fine for an incident against Wolves in April 2023 and a £75,000 fine for an incident against Liverpool in March 2024.
The commission said: “By taking the offending behaviour into account and the club’s previous disciplinary record, notably this being the sixth incident within the previous five seasons, and the second non-standard charge within 12 months, the Commission were minded to impose a fine of £150,000.00. There was limited credit given for the admittance and the fine was reduced to £125,000.00.”
