Brentford and Crystal Palace have been handed a huge boost in their bid for Premier League survival today as Nottingham Forest are docked four points for breaching profit and sustainability rules.
The BBC has confirmed that the looming points penalty that had been hanging over Nottingham Forest has been implemented. The club have been immediately docked four points and plummet into the relegation zone.
The change in the table sees Luton Town climb out of the bottom three with 19th placed Burnley four points off Nottingham Forest. Bottom placed Sheffield United are now seven points off Nuno Espirto Santo’s side. Nottingham Forest are the second top flight team to be penalised for PSR breaches this season after Everton lost 10 points in November. The Toffees then successfully appealed that decision and saw the punishment reduced to six points.
Premier League clubs can lose £105 million over three seasons, which is the equivalent to £35 million per campaign. Nottingham Forest spent two years of that assessment period in the Championship and, as a result, their maximum loss was only permitted to be £61 million.
Nottingham Forest had been charged in January and appointed leading sports lawyer Nick de Marco to defend their case. The BBC reports that the club tried to hinge its appeal around the £45 million sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham Hotspur last September.
News of the points deduction comes as a major boost to London outfits Crystal Palace and Brentford, who risk being dragged into the relegation dogfight between now and the end of the season. The Eagles have won just two league matches since the turn of the calendar year and are yet to fully get running under new boss Oliver Glasner. Crystal Palace had been seven points above the drop zone, but that is now eight points.
It’s been just as tough going in West London for Brentford. Thomas Frank’s side sit 15th in an even more precarious position having picked up just seven points in 2024. The Bees are now five points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the run-in.
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