Why Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 after Everton defeat last season

Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 for their social media posts following their 2-0 defeat to Everton last season.

The Toffees earned a late-season victory in April thanks to goals from Dwight McNeil and Idrissa Gueye from distance but the major talking points were on the three penalty claims that Forest had turned down by Anthony Taylor and Stuart Atwell, who was leading the VAR Team.

It saw them take to social media after the game to post the message they would later be charged for, in a statement which soon went viral: "Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept. We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options."

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A post that faced considerable backlash at the time, a decision was confirmed by the Football Association today that they were fined £750k. A statement released by the FA on Friday, read: "Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 and warned for misconduct in relation to comments posted on social media after their Premier League game against Everton on Sunday 21 April.

"The club denied that the comments posted on social media imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match officials and/or the video assistant referee and/or bring the game into disrepute. "An independent Regulatory Commission found the charge to be proven following a hearing and imposed the club’s sanctions. Its written reasons for these decisions can be read in full below."

There was an extra layer of drama added to the incident, as it was later revealed that Forest had contacted PGMOL chief Howard Webb through their ex-referee analyst Mark Clattenburg before the game, but had not asked for Attwell to be replaced. Clattenburg then left Forest, saying he had become a distraction to the work he was supposed to do.

It was Ashley Young the main culprit, being involved in all three incidents. He caught Forest attacker Gio Reyna, handled in the area and then challenged Callum Hudson-Odoi without being punished. It is reported, Forest intend to appeal against the sanction.