Gary Neville and Nottingham Forest are not thought to have resolved their differences, with the Sky Sports pundit still barred from the City Ground ahead of the new Premier League campaign, according to reports.
The Manchester United legend was banned from the club’s stadium in May after Neville criticised the conduct of owner Evangelos Marinakis on social media after he charged onto the pitch at full-time following a home draw with Leicester.
Marinakis appeared to remonstrate head coach Nuno Espirito Santo – although the Greek tycoon asserted that he had been concerned for the welfare of Taiwo Awonyi, who had collided with the post but continued to play on. Awonyi later required abdominal surgery for the injury he had sustained.
As a result of his barring, Neville was unable to cover the final match of the season against Chelsea at Forest, instead discussing the match from the studio after his request for media accreditation was denied.
Despite Sky Sports holding talks with the Premier League over the stand-off, per the Guardian, the club is believed to have made up its mind that further ‘assurances’ are needed before Neville can return to the premises.
Forest claim to have not formally banned Neville but – as is a club’s prerogative in the top flight – have no wish to welcome to him to the City Ground until a resolution is found.
Gary Neville will still not be welcome at the City Ground this season, according to reports
In an ‘unprecedented’ move last season, the pundit was turned down for accreditation ahead of the final match of their campaign, against Chelsea (pictured)
However, the club are believed to be keen to find one should Neville commit to taking care when discussing Marinakis in the future.
Neville had shared on X that he thought it was ‘scandalous’ behaviour from the Olympiacos owner to have come onto the pitch.
‘Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him!’ his post read. ‘The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.
In their own statement after the incident, Forest indirectly hit out at the pundit while defending their owner’s conduct, writing: ‘We urge former coaches and players, and other public figures in the game, to resist the urge to rush to judgement and fake news online, especially when they do not have the full facts and context,’ the club said.
‘Baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction serves no one – least of all the injured player.’
Upon learning of Neville’s snub, Sky Sports dubbed the decision ‘unprecedented and unwelcome’, with the pundit echoing those sentiments personally on Instagram.
‘I’ve dished out my fair share of criticism and praise in the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action,’ Neville wrote.
‘Personally, I think it’s disappointing that a great club like Nottingham Forest have been reduced to making such a decision. Whilst they have every right to choose who they let into their own stadium, it’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club.
Neville had shared his thoughts on social media on the actions of owner Evangelos Marinakis rushing onto the pitch (left)
Forest maintained that Marinakis had been concerned only for the wellbeing of Taiwo Awoniyi
The flare-up of tensions came one year after Forest threatened the broadcaster with legal action over Neville’s description of a club statement as being akin to one written by a ‘mafia gang’.
Forest had released the social media bombshell following their defeat to Everton in April 2024, claiming that they had been denied three penalties while also alleging bias from VAR Stuart Attwell.
‘Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept,’ the statement read. ‘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.’
Neville said of the missive that it was ‘like a mafia-gang statement’.
‘I mean honestly, what the hell are they playing at? It’s like a petulant child. It’s embarrassing.’
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Neville added that due to the ‘inference of cheating’ in the statement’s insinuation that Attwell was a Luton fan, Forest ‘will pay’.
Marinakis confirmed that lawyers had been in touch with Sky Sports over the comments in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Sport.
But after an apology from Sky Sports last July in which the broadcaster pledged that Neville had ‘agreed not to use the same or similar terms in future coverage’, no further action between the two parties was taken over the matter.
Forest was however fined £750,000 by the Football Association for their post. The club lost their appeal against the verdict this March, with the appeal board noting the club’s lack of ‘genuine apology’ and ‘genuine remorse’ over the initial statement.