Police are on alert for Sunday’s Premier League match after Nottingham Forest had a hand in the Eagles’ demotion
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rystal Palace against Nottingham Forest isn’t usually a Premier League fixture that would have the Metropolitan police on red alert. But after a summer spent at each other’s throats at the court of arbitration for sport as well as on social media over Uefa’s decision to demote Palace from the Europa League to the Conference League, to Forest’s advantage, supporters of both clubs are preparing to come face-to-face on Sunday afternoon.
“Forest aren’t our rivals – they’re nothing to us,” says the Palace fan Chris Waters. “But all of a sudden this game has a bitter edge to it.” Sanad Attia, AKA Wolfie, who presents the Forest Fan TV YouTube channel, says: “We’ve never really had any kind of issue with Palace – I was quite happy for them winning the FA Cup. But they have been wanting to blame everyone but themselves. And in particular, Forest and Evangelos Maranakis.”
It remains to be seen whether the Greek billionaire will be at Selhurst Park. Forest were accused by the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, of playing a crucial role in their demotion after the Midlands club raised concerns to Uefa in June about Palace potentially being in breach of multi-club ownership rules. As usual, Marinakis is expected to bring his own security if he does make the trip to south London, and Palace insist the Forest owner is welcome in the boardroom.
