Nottinghamshire

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Nottingham Forest have confirmed the signing of versatile forward Dan Ndoye from Bologna.

The 24-year-old Switzerland international has agreed a five-year deal at the City Ground, having last season scored the Coppa Italia final goal that won Bologna's first major trophy for more than 50 years.

Ndoye made his international debut for Switzerland in 2022 and has gone on to earn 22 caps for his country.

"It is a really exciting time at Forest and I knew straight away that I wanted to be a part of the project," Ndoye said.

"It's a really ambitious team with a fantastic history and I can't wait to get started."

The club's chief football officer, Ross Wilson, added: "Dan is an exciting new addition to our squad and a player we have tracked extensively over a long period of time.

"We are delighted that he joins Nottingham Forest and continues his own ambitious journey here with us."

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Former Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest forward Trevor Francis will be honoured in a pre-season friendly between the two clubs on Saturday.

Francis made his debut for Birmingham as a 16-year-old and became British football's first £1m player when he left Blues to join Forest in 1979.

A few weeks later, Francis scored the winning goal as Forest won the first of their two successive European Cups.

Francis died in 2023, aged 69. Before Saturday's match, a statue of Francis will be unveiled outside the Championship club's stadium.

Frank Clark, who played alongside Francis in Forest's 1979 final victory in Munich, told BBC East Midlands Today: "He was a terrific player and a really good bloke. He was Britain's £1m player but there was never any big-headedness about that. He just came into the club and was very quickly accepted as one of the lads.

"The manager [Brian Clough] made him make the tea for everybody on his first day after training, just to keep his feet on the ground."

Clark added: "We think [having the friendly] is important because since he died, we've always wondered why there had been no ceremony or function to pay tribute to him.

"This is the perfect example of the two clubs getting together. It'll be a proper pre-season game in honour of Trevor's memory."

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Garry Birtles played alongside Francis at Nottigham Forest and told BBC East Midlands Today: "One of the most unassuming people you could ever meet, considering what he was.

"You would think the first £1m player [in Britain] would have a chip on the shoulder and be going 'look at me', but there was not a trace of that at all. He was so humble and a lovely person.

"He was incredible, he had pace to burn and his movement was excellent. He integrated well with the rest of the team. He wasn't this greedy striker, he played his part as a team player.

"He was just a joy to be with and he was just normal. Nowadays you see players and you're not allowed to go near them, but Trevor was not like that at all. We were part of the football club and Nottingham itself. We mingled with the fans and enjoyed doing that.

"He came to the majority of the reunions we used to have and it was always great to see him."

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The Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] has confirmed that an in-person hearing for the case Crystal Palace v. UEFA, Nottingham Forest Football Club & Olympique Lyonnais is scheduled for Friday, 8 August 2025.

The hearing will be held behind closed doors at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

No decision will be issued on 8 August.

It is expected that an operative decision [without grounds] will be given on Monday, 11 August.

Palace submitted an appeal against their demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League with CAS on 22 July.

The appeal is against Uefa, which issued the punishment, French club Lyon and Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.

The Eagles were punished for breaching multi-club ownership rules as American businessman John Textor owns a stake in the club and is the majority owner of Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League.

Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, are expected to replace FA Cup winners Palace in the Europa League should the punishment stand.

Manchester City have rejected a bid in the region of £25m from Nottingham Forest for 22-year-old English midfielder James McAtee. (Sky Sports), external

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