Nottingham Forest issued the highly critical post on X about five minutes after full-time in that April match at Goodison Park – which left the club one point above the relegation zone at the time.
In a controversial game, Forest were upset by referee Anthony Taylor ignoring three penalty appeals, including when Everton’s Ashley Young handled in the closing moments of the opening half and then when the veteran tangled with Callum Hudson-Odoi as he raced in on goal.
The Key Match Incident Panel – an independent panel that reviews decisions after each round of Premier League fixtures – found Forest should have been awarded a penalty for Young’s challenge on Hudson-Odoi in the 55th minute.
Forest said they had “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) that “the VAR is a Luton fan but they didn’t change him”.
“Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept,” the club posted on X, external on 21 April.
“Our patience has been tested multiple times.”
Although they did not name the official, the VAR was Attwell.
Forest were charged by the FA, who sought a fine in excess of £1m over the club’s “egregious, direct and public attack”.
The written reasons for the ruling confirmed that Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of PGMOL, and Mark Clattenburg, then a referee analyst employed by Forest, did discuss the fact that Attwell was a Luton fan during a call on 19 April – two days before the match.
However, the commission says it was “common ground” between the parties that no representations or requests were made to change the VAR for the match.
Attwell gave a statement to the panel which described the “stress, distress, fear and embarrassment caused to him” as a result of the post.
The panel found the impact on the official had “plainly been very significant,” adding: “To Stuart Attwell, the harm has continued well beyond the short period contended for by NFFC.”
Everton’s win over Forest moved them five points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand on Luton, with Forest in deep trouble, only a point ahead of the Hatters.
In the end, both Forest and Everton stayed up while Luton went down.
Clattenburg left his position at Forest on the day the club were charged by the FA, having been given a formal warning himself.
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