Sketch mocking Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper said to have harmed relations with the club

Sky has apologised after Elis James mocked Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper on Fantasy Football League.

The comic depicted the manager with a wonky eye in a sketch set in the City Ground dressing room.

In it, he announces  the signing of Serge Aurier – one of a huge raft of players joining the club this season – saying he will be given the ‘coveted squad number four…. thousand three hundred and forty-five’.

The scene then cuts to a very cramped dressing room as Cooper expresses disappointment that the Premier League are sticking to just 11-a-side.

Fantasy Football League co-host Matt Lucas then appears as Luciano Pavarotti, in reference Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.

The Daily Mail reported that  the sketch caused waves because Sky Sports depends so heavily on good relationships with the football clubs it covers. And the channel told the newspaper an apology had been issued.

Sports correspondent Mike Keegan wrote: ‘Not only at Forest, but senior executives inside Sky were appalled at the clumsy-at-best attempt at humour’ and quoted an insider calling the sketch ‘crass, not funny and cruel’.

The show, a revival of the Frank Skinner and David Baddiel’s 1990s show, airs on sister channel Sky Max.

The original had a history of causing offence with Forest – most notoriously depicting the club’s striker Jason Lee with a pineapple on his head, prompting him to get abuse from fans. Some sketches also featured David Baddiel in blackface, which he now says he regrets. The duo also portrayed Nottingham Forest manager Frank Clark as a Mr. Potato Head.

Here’s what the real Steve Cooper looks like…

Published: 14 Oct 2022