Crystal Palace have denied a Football Association (FA) charge relating to a banner held up by the club’s supporters in their Premier League match with Nottingham Forest earlier this season.
Palace were hit with a misconduct charge by the English governing body for the alleged behaviour of fans during the game, which finished 1-1.
A banner appearing to show Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was held up in Selhurst Park’s Lower Holmesdale Road end, where the Holmesdale Fanatics (HF) supporters’ group is situated, during the match on August 24.
The FA subsequently opened an investigation and last week alleged that Palace “failed to ensure its spectators and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters or followers) didn’t behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, insulting and/or provocative way” during the fixture.
Palace had until 6pm on November 11 to respond to the charge, and have decided to contest it.
Tensions between the two clubs rose over the summer following Palace’s demotion from the Europa League — despite qualifying by winning the FA Cup — to the Conference League after being found to have breached UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership, with the issue stemming from John Textor’s Eagle Football’s majority stake in Lyon. They were subsequently replaced in the competition by Forest.
Palace chairman Steve Parish suggested in July that Forest had played a role in blocking Palace’s entry into the Europa League.
It is not the first time Palace fans have been subject to scrutiny over banners they have displayed during matches.
Their ultras group, the Holmesdale Fanatics, have been outspoken on issues including other clubs’ ownership, the scheduling of matches and the behaviour of governing bodies.
A banner displayed by the Fanatics in October 2021 against Newcastle United was investigated by police. The banner took aim at the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test, following the takeover of Newcastle earlier that year, which was largely funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The Croydon Metropolitan Police said it had been reported as “offensive” but took no further action. Palace were fined €10,000 (£8,693) by UEFA in September after fans displayed another banner, this time with the words ‘UEFA MAFIA’ on it, during the Conference League play-off game with Fredrikstad in August.