Stadium goal is highlight in lacklustre Nottingham Forest performance

Profits on player sales helped soften the blow of a Covid-disrupted season at Nottingham Forest, as losses narrowed by nearly £10m.

However the Championship football club still lost £15.9m, although the extended season meant the final five home matches of the season were played behind closed doors and after the end of the financial year.

A poor end to the season on the pitch also put paid to promotion hopes as the 7th-placed finish saw them finish outside the play-off places on goal difference.

The sale of Arvin Appiah to Spanish club Almería for £8m helped ease the club’s financial position, as did the write-off of a historical £5m loan.

Revenues were up slightly in the year to May 31, to £25.7m, and the club said it had been “on track to report a record turnover” until the pandemic caused the suspension of the season.

However “there will be significant impact on commercial performance related to Covid” in the current financial year, which isn’t helped by the team’s disappointing performance that sees them currently in 17th position. The commercial performance will be exacerbated by the news that its main shirt sponsor, the football stock market Football Index, has appointed administrators.

The club has said it is confident about its stadium redevelopment plans, which it has already invested £2m into.

It said: “Redeveloping a stadium in an established residential area hasadded complexity, but the club is optimistic that the application will be successful during the 2021 calendar year.”