The summer transfer window has been dominated by a bitter feud between Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, with both clubs engaging in a war of words and petty squabbles.
Palace and Forest's petty feud
The Eagles thought they had qualified for the Europa League after their FA Cup victory, but instead found themselves relegated to the Conference League after an appeal was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] due to a breach of UEFA's multi-club ownership rules.
Forest, being the bellends they are, wrote to the governing body expressing concerns over Palace falling foul of the rules, and will now play in the Europa League instead. They also lodged a legal complaint regarding Tottenham's pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White, who went on to sign a new contract.
A Palace fan's rant
One Palace fan, Dee, joined a Premier League launch show and made his feelings clear on Forest, stating: "Honestly, I want Forest to get relegated next year, to be fair. Since they got promoted to the Premier League, the owners have just been weird with hiring ex-referees because decisions weren't going for them, going on the pitch halfway through the season. Complaining, snitching on Tottenham for Morgan Gibbs-White, snitching on Palace to UEFA about the Europa League."
He continued his rant, saying: "If you lot won something then I would understand it, but you lot have just been causing drama off the field. I'll be honest, I'm happy, I'm gonna still see Palace play in Europe. I know it's the Conference League, I would rather have the Europa League, but I've seen my team win the FA Cup, the Community Shield, I'll be seeing my team play in Europe. All Forest have is hope and maybe a bit more snitching, you might get somewhere."
Forest fan's response
A Forest fan offered his response: "Oh look, they win a trophy for the first time in their history, look at them go. I've got no feelings towards Palace, take it out on Parish for not finding his paperwork, ain't my problem!"
It's clear that this feud between Palace and Forest is far from over, with both sets of fans engaging in bitter exchanges and petty squabbles. It remains to be seen who will come out on top in this battle of the egos.
Why were Palace relegated from the Europa League?
Palace were deemed to have breached multi-club ownership rules due to John Textor's involvement with Ligue 1 side Lyon. The American businessman, who sold his shares at Palace, is the controlling owner at Eagle Football Group, who own the French club. 'No individual or legal entity can have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition', rules state.
Palace could have worked around the rule with proof of restructuring their multi-club ownership, but missed the March 1 deadline. They argued that Textor had no decisive influence at Selhurst Park despite being the club's majority shareholder at the time. However, Palace will play Conference League football this season.
