It was announced last week that Nottingham Forest have received a cash injection in the form of shareholder funding.
The sum was stretched across April, May and June of this year and takes the club to over £100 million in shareholder funding across the 2025/26 campaign.
But, just what does this mean? Is there now more money for Forest to spend, and just what will happen from this point regarding the new investment?
Naturally, the vast sum is due to the club needing to run whilst being in the Europa League, with the Reds progressing to the semi-finals of the competition last year.
Forest also spent big money last summer to ensure the squad was well stocked with players ahead of a campaign of playing Thursday and Sunday on a frequent basis.
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We confess to the average supporter, we’re not entirely sure what this means for the football club, but thankfully we know a man who does.
Football finance expert Adam Williams is a man with his finger on the pulse when it comes to this sort of thing, and he’s exclusively given us the lowdown on this latest Marinakis development.
He told Nottingham Forest News: “Typically, when an owner injects money into the club via share capital, it’s for short-term cash flow. Basically, it’s to pay the bills and keep the lights on – keep up with transfer instalments, pay wages, settle utility bills and so on. It’s not usually for splurges in the transfer market or to fund a stadium redevelopment.
“The timing of Forest’s three cash injections tallies with that. The last quarter of the season – which is when the share issues took place – is typically when cash flow is tightest. You’ve sold all your season tickets, and your shirts, you’re past the Christmas retail boom, you’re still awaiting your payments from the Premier League’s prize money and central pots and so on. So it’s often when we see owners put money in themselves, either through loans or equity. It’s the latter, in this case.
“Going forward, they’ve got the money from the Anderson sale, which will help both with cash flow because the whole fee is up front and also UEFA and Premier League spending regulations, given that most of that fee is profit from an SCR perspective.
“Forest made an operating loss of £65m in 2024-25, which is the last financial year for which we have the accounts. When you’re at negative £65m before capital expenditure and transfer spending, you’ve got to make up the shortfall either through owner loans/equity, player sales or by cutting costs. Given that Marinakis is now about £350m deep in funding, it’s clear what his preferred method is.”
Forest’s campaign will get underway in around three weeks with a home game against Leeds and with matches against Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa to follow, it’s vital the team gets off to a flyer.
Marinakis will want the squad improved before the opening game of the season, and now it will be fascinating to see what happens in the transfer market with the owner showing his loyalty once more.
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