The Premier League is prime entertainment. While you have every right to watch only your club or the top four or five sides in the leagues, there is quite the drama an intrigue to be enjoyed elsewhere.
Take here the rivalry between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace. This started last year after Palace won the FA Cup by beating Manchester City, claiming their first-ever major trophy and qualifying for the Europa League in the process.
But Palace were demoted to the Conference League instead, over a harsh decision related to their majority shareholder owning a stake at two different clubs participating in the competition.
John Textor had sold his shares at Palace by then actually, but the club were still punished for failing to meet a deadline to clear matters with Uefa, some administrative finery unrelated to football or the fans.
And there were some rumours that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis had been involved in getting the case before Uefa’s eyes in the first place, with his team set to benefit from Palace’s demotion.
Palace went down to the Conference League and Forest played in the Europa League in their stead. This has made them fierce rivals and their two games last season were some thrilling affairs. Both games ended 1-1, neither side willing to concede ground, whether at Selhurst Park or at the City Ground.
Soon after kick-off at the Community Shield, Crystal Palace fans protested UEFA’s decision to demote them from the Europa League with flares and a banner reading ‘UEFA Mafia’.#CPFC | #CommunityShield pic.twitter.com/QW7h8LmTV8
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) August 10, 2025
Palace could claim the last laugh by the end of the season when they went ahead to win the Conference League, claiming their first European trophy, while Forest lost in the semi-finals of the Europa League to Aston Villa.
But in an interesting post-script, their highly successful manager Oliver Glasner switched camps this summer and became the new Forest manager.
As if that was not already enough to heat up the next contest between these two sides, news has arrived that Forest owner Marinakis is suing Palace for defamation over a supporters’ banner that depicted the Greek businessman holding a gun to Morgan Gibbs-White’s head.
Gibbs-White was on the verge of leaving Forest for Tottenham last summer but ultimately signed a new deal. Palace fans, angry at Marinakis and Uefa for their European demotion, carried the controversial banner into the stadium during their game against Forest at Selhurst Park.
The banner showed Marinakis pointing a gun at Gibbs-White and carried the words: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.”
Here is the pic for those that want see it pic.twitter.com/jsOiHzU09N
— Yaya Sule. (@X_Sponoton) August 10, 2026
Palace were fined £50,000 by the Football Association in February over the incident. The club were found guilty of failing to ensure their fans did not behave in an “improper, offensive, abusive, insulting and/or provocative way”.
Palace and Forest are due to meet again at Selhurst Park on 10 October. Mark your calendar.
