Crystal Palace: Why are Nottingham Forest set to replace them in Europa League?

Crystal Palace had never won a major trophy.

Never been in Europe.

The scenes of pure joy after their 1-0 over Manchester City at Wembley made for one of 2025's most memorable football stories.

They believe they earned their right to play in the Europa League next season. According to well-placed sources, there are factions at Uefa who have a similar opinion.

But less than two months on, the aftermath has been tainted by acrimony, rivalries and, ultimately, Uefa rules around multi-club ownership rules.

The upshot is Palace are out of the Europa League. And Nottingham Forest take their place. Palace are now in the Conference League where the prize money and glory are significantly less.

Palace are now expected to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Why did this happen? What does it tell us about football ownership? What went on between Palace and Forest? And will it spark a deeper rivalry between the clubs?

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