NOTTINGHAM FOREST HISTORY
VAR tweet brings FA fine
On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 2024 Forest are fined £750,000 over their VAR social media post.
Forest received one of the most high-profile disciplinary punishments in the club’s modern Premier League era when the FA fined them £750,000 over a social media post about VAR Stuart Attwell.
The post had followed the previous season’s 2–0 defeat at struggling Everton, when Forest felt they had been denied three penalties. The club publicly questioned Attwell’s appointment as VAR because of his reported support for Luton Town, who were also fighting relegation at the time.
The FA treated the post as a serious attack on the integrity of a match official. Forest were fined, warned about future conduct, and strongly criticised the size of the punishment.
The case did not end there. Forest appealed, but the appeal was dismissed in March 2025, the £750,000 fine stood, and the club was ordered to remove the post. For supporters, the episode captured how a survival-run-in grievance became a major off-pitch controversy involving refereeing anger, social media and club discipline.
Sources
The FA; Reuters; The Guardian
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Forest received one of the most high-profile disciplinary punishments in the club’s modern Premier League era when the FA fined them £750,000 over a…