Nottingham Forest have been receiving an unsolicited amount of attention recently for admitting to breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.
It was announced on Monday, that the West Brigford side would receive a four point points deduction for breaking the rules.
The four point punishment now sees them enthralled in a relegation battle, as they now lie 18th in the Premier League on 21 points.
All the talk recently about the club has brought much-detailed attention to the City ground.
And many fans are noticing a peculiar design within Forest’s stadium that they hadn’t noticed before but now have many questions about.
Why is the letter ‘e’ in Forest lower case, whilst the rest of the letters are all upper case for the seats and flags at the City Ground?
The letter e is the only lower case letter in the clubs design for their seating plan in the City Ground Stadium
The lower case e isn’t just present on the seats but it is also stands out on the grounds corner flags as well
Although it is only now eagle-eyed Premier League fans are noticing the ‘e’ in the clubs seat design, many Forest fans will know the design has been a part of the club for over 50 years.
Back in 1973, designer David Lewis entered a competition in the Nottingham Evening Post to come up with a new badge for the Reds.
He ended up winning the competition for his design which he created to make the club’s supporters feel like they ‘belonged’.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live about the reasoning for the lower case ‘e’ design, Lewis said he wanted to create something unique within the design that supporters could ‘grasp’ onto – and thanks to his background in calligraphy, the infamous ‘e’ was born.
David Lewis won a competition back in 1973 in the Nottingham Evening Post to design the Forest logo
Lewis said ‘Once I’d decided to include that [the lower case e], I felt, if you’ve got the badge on top and the word Forest underneath, the word Forest needed to be distinctive and individual. So how could I do it?
‘The original idea had a very round ‘o’. I then got on to the more condensed letters, which seemed to have a bit more solidity and link to the badge. It so happened that the lower case ‘e’ does fit in between the ‘R’ and the ‘S’ rather than a straight ‘E’. Also, I wanted it to be a bit more personal; a bit less like a company and more like a football club. So then came the ‘e’.
‘It’s a unique Forest then, rather than anybody’s Forest. And then wrapping the tail of the ‘r’ around it was almost like an affectionate thing. It was something which was more personal. That was the idea, to make things more personal, more unique, more like it’s our Forest, not just the word ‘Forest’’.
Forest fans now face the stark possibility that they may be playing Championship football next season following the deduction
The design has now represented the Nottingham side for over 50 years through the highs and lows of the clubs history.
The latest low to hit the Reds, is their four point reduction which may result in them being relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.
Forest were giving the deduction as the Premier League have claimed that the club exceeded their PSR threshold by as much as £34.5million in the pertinent period.
Forest were charged with breaching spending regulations in January 2024 alongside fellow Premier League side Everton, the Toffees receiving a 10-point deduction earlier in the season.
Forest now find themselves lying 18th in the Premier League on 21 points with nine games left to play this season
Forest published a statement on Monday outlining that they were ‘disappointed’ with the decision to hand out a points penalty, although they did indicate it was for the best of the league’s integrity to mete out punishment ‘in the same season in which they are issued’.
It added: ‘We were extremely dismayed by the tone and content of the Premier League’s submissions before the Commission.
‘After months of engagement with the Premier League, and exceptional cooperation throughout, this was unexpected and has harmed the trust and confidence we had in the Premier League.
‘That the Premier League sought a sanction of eight points as a starting point was utterly disproportionate when compared to the nine points that their own rules prescribe for insolvency.
‘We were also surprised that the Premier League gave no consideration at all to the unique circumstances of the Club and its mitigation. In circumstances where this approach is followed by future PSR commissions, it would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for newly promoted clubs without parachute payments to compete, thus undermining the integrity and competitiveness of the Premier League.’
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