'Surreal' - Nottingham Forest lawyer made poignant QPR reflection before points deduction confirmed

Leading sports lawyer and QPR supporter Nick De Marco KC made a poignant reflection on a high-profile case he won at the London club in 2011 just hours before the Premier League confirmed that the points penalty handed to Nottingham Forest would stand.

The lawyer, who has been appointed by Forest to lead their appeal against financial punishments, worked to help prevent QPR from receiving a points deduction in 2011. Exactly 13 years on from that victory, Mr De Marco admitted he 'never realised' how points penalties would continue to have such an important say on promotion and relegation in seasons to come.

On this day, in 2011, the FA confirmed that QPR would be promoted to the Premier League as Championship winners despite having been found guilty of two charges relating to the signing of Alejandro Faurlin in 2009. The Rs were handed a £875,000 fine as a punishment but no points penalty, which could have been 'sizeable' and stopped promotion.

That decision came just hours before QPR hosted Leeds United at Loftus Road in the final game of the season. Neil Warnock's side lost that match but still finished top of the league, four points ahead of Norwich City in second place.

Mr De Marco took to X to reminisce on the 'surreal' day. The lawyer wrote: "Remember the day so well. Quite surreal winning a big legal case and seeing the club you have supported all your life return to the PL for the first time in 20 years the same day, in part because we won the case and stopped the points deduction.

"Never realised back then that there would be so many other cases over the next years where (sadly from a fan's perspective) promotion or relegation seems to depend almost as much on legal cases as what has happened on the pitch.

"I’ve been fortunate, as a sports lawyer, to be involved in many of those cases, with good results, but it can be a tremendous pressure knowing the fate of a club that means so much to so many people is in part in your hands. Having this baptism of fire with my own club, beloved by so many friends, certainly helped me deal with that."

Alejandro Faurlin joined QPR from Argentinian club Instituto in 2009. The FA alleged that the player then represented QPR while his registration was not owned by the club but by a third party.

QPR acknowledged the charges received from the FA but denied any 'deliberate wrongdoing' in the incident. Faurlin went on to make 163 appearances for the club, scoring five goals and picking up 19 assists from midfield.

The post from Mr De Marco came just hours before it was confirmed that Nottingham Forest had lost their appeal against a four-point deduction for breaching Premier League financial rules. The deduction deals a huge blow to the club’s hopes of avoiding relegation to the Championship - Forest currently sit 17th, just three points above the relegation zone.

Nottingham Forest’s legal team is led by Mr De Marco and has said they were ‘extremely disappointed’ with the four-point sanction put onto the club.