Nottingham Forest handed Everton FFP warning over ‘nuclear’ City Ground decision

Nottingham Forest has received warnings that their decision to vacate the City Ground could put them in the same situation where Everton was penalised for violating the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) of the Premier League.

Although there have been discussions about expanding the current site since 2019, owner Evangelos Marinakis now seems set on relocating to “a bigger facility.”

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire warns that it’s a heated debate and that Forest could easily find themselves on the wrong side of things if they make a mistake.

“The nuclear option as far as the club is concerned is to effectively walk away and move to a new stadium,” he told Football Insider. That would be an extremely expensive exercise because labour and construction costs have gone up dramatically in the post-Brexit world.
“As we have seen with Everton, constructing a new stadium is an extremely expensive endeavour due to rising construction, power, and material costs. However, the Forest Board must take this option into consideration if they believe the Council is being uncooperative.”

Point deductions based on the league’s PSR have been handed to both the Reds and the Toffees. It ultimately came down to surpassing the maximum losses in Forest’s case.

Everton was given an initial 10-point penalty for the same offence, which was later reduced to six points after an appeal. However, the penalty carried additional complexity because the cost of building their 52,888-seat stadium on Liverpool’s waterfront was included in their financial statements.

The stadium is expected to be completed and occupied before the 2025–2026 season at a reported cost of £500 million. Therefore, Maguire’s warning seems reasonable as Forest considers their options regarding relocating while hoping to move past their Financial Fair Play issues.