Roy Keane makes feelings clear on Nottingham Forest's decision to ban Gary Neville

WATCH NOW: Sports round-up as Nottingham Forest ban Gary Neville

Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 25/05/2025

- 20:41

The Irishman has provided his verdict

Roy Keane has criticised Nottingham Forest's decision to ban Gary Neville from covering their match against Chelsea, labelling the move as "small-minded".

The former Manchester United defender was denied accreditation by Forest following his social media criticism of club owner Evangelos Marinakis.


Sky Sports subsequently chose to broadcast coverage of Forest's 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea from their London studio rather than the City Ground.

Keane, who previously played for Forest, expressed his disagreement with his former club's controversial decision.

Roy KeaneRoy Keane makes feelings clear on Nottingham Forest's decision to ban Gary Neville

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Neville's ban stemmed from his criticism of Marinakis on social media platform X following Forest's previous home match against Leicester.

The pundit had posted: "Scandalous from that Forest owner. Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him! The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that."

Forest responded firmly, not only banning Neville but also releasing a statement condemning "fake news online" and warning against "baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction".

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Gary Neville

Nottingham Forest fans mocked Gary Neville at the City Ground on Sunday

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The incident that sparked Neville's criticism occurred when Marinakis stormed onto the pitch after the Leicester match to confront manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Greek owner was reportedly unhappy with how the coaching and medical staff had handled Taiwo Awoniyi's late injury during the game.

This pitch invasion and subsequent confrontation with his own manager prompted Neville's social media post describing Marinakis' behaviour as "scandalous" and suggesting Nuno should negotiate his exit from the club.

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Speaking about Forest's late-season struggles, Keane specifically highlighted the decision to ban Neville as one of several "small-minded" actions taken by the club.

The former midfielder suggested that Marinakis' attempts to "control" things had backfired and not worked in the club's favour.

Keane's criticism carries particular weight given his history with both Nottingham Forest as a former player and his long-standing relationship with Neville as team-mates at Manchester United.

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Neville addressed the ban in a statement on Instagram, saying: "I was informed yesterday by Sky Sports that Nottingham Forest would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator. I've had no choice but to withdraw from the coverage."

He added: "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."

Evangelos Marinakis

Gary Neville had criticised Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis

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Neville acknowledged in his statement that while Forest have the right to control stadium access, he found the action "unprecedented" in his 14 years as a pundit.

"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," the 50-year-old stated.