Following an appeal, Nottingham Forest's Football Association sanction for failing to manage their players was lowered.

The Reds' inability to maintain player discipline during a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in October 2024 resulted in a £125,000 fine. The Blues received a fine of £40,000.

After it was claimed that both teams had neglected to make sure their players "did not conduct in an indecent and/or provocative fashion around the 88th minute" of the game, the FA charged them. In the final moments of the game, a brawl broke out after Marc Cucurella was knocked down by Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca after Forest defender Neco Williams shoved him.

An independent appeal body has now largely upheld Forest's appeal against the ruling. A hearing last Friday resulted in the club's sanction being lowered to £112,000 instead.

"An independent appeal board has largely supported an appeal by Nottingham Forest FC in connection to a breach of FA Rule E20.1," the FA stated in a statement. Following the large-scale altercation during their Premier League match on Sunday, October 6, 2024, the FA accused Nottingham Forest FC and Chelsea FC of violating FA Rule E20.1.

Both clubs acknowledged the accusation that they neglected to make sure their players were not acting inappropriately or provocatively around the 88th minute. After a hearing, an independent regulatory body fined Chelsea FC £40,000 and Nottingham Forest FC £125,000.

Nottingham Forest FC later filed an appeal contesting the sentence. After a hearing, the appeal board lowered the club's penalties to £112,000 and partially upheld this appeal.

The appeal board explained the decision in their written reasons: "We allow the appeal on the two identified specific grounds, under the umbrella of being decisions that 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 the part of NFFC, when in its written submissions to the commission, it stated that 'it regrets and sincerely apologizes for what occurred.'"

If not, the appeal is denied. As a result, we partially grant the appeal and lower the commission's £125,000 fine to £112,000 in accordance with Fast Track 7, Regulations 18.1 and 18.2.

The Reds were fined more than the Blues in the initial ruling because of their "lack of contrition" and prior disciplinary record, which were considered "aggravating" considerations. The commission failed to correctly assess the club's earlier efforts to address conduct issues and the practical implications of this," Forest said in his appeal of the sentence.

Nonetheless, the appeal board came to the following conclusion: "In the appeal board's opinion, this is just not a fair criticism of the commission in circumstances when NFFC did not provide the commission with evidence of such efforts." According to NFFC's written submissions to the commission, the highest rating it can receive is that it indicates that its players exercised a great deal of restraint in the circumstances, which it claimed was indicative of the "steps it has taken" to address the criticism in a prior E20 decision in January 2023. The organisation also stated that it had reminded its players of their responsibilities under Rule E20.

That submission, though, raises the question of what actions have been taken. Simply put, the commission cannot see them because they are not named. We might also add that we cannot see them. In these situations, the appeal board dismisses the argument that the Commission did not properly take into account NFFC's earlier attempts to resolve conduct-related issues.

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 were among the previous instances of rule violations that the commission brought up during the initial hearing.