Supporters displayed tifo in Holmesdale End at game
Tension between clubs built over Europa League battle
The Football Association has charged Crystal Palace with misconduct after their fans held up a graphic banner about the Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, during the 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park between the teams in August.
There was been tension between the clubs all summer after both clubs indirectly went head-to-head for a place in this season’s Europa League, before it was decided Forest would enter Uefa’s second-tier competition at the expense of Palace. A white-hot atmosphere surrounded the fixture and Palace supporters in the Holmesdale End held aloft a banner of Marinakis.
Palace clinched a place in the Europa League with a shock FA Cup triumph against Manchester City in May, but subsequently were excluded from the competition due to the previous co-owner John Textor holding a controlling interest in Lyon, who also qualified. Uefa’s decision to rule that Textor held a controlling interest in both clubs, meaning they could not both play in the Europa League, occurred only after a drawn-out saga, and Marinakis had reportedly written to the governing body to raise concerns about Palace’s ownership.
