An incendiary social media post has received 42 million views, making it unique among English football posts.
The final whistle had just gone on Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat against Everton in the Premier League on Sunday when the frustrated losing club issued a social media message about X.
It went beyond denouncing match referees’ alleged incompetence in failing to award penalties for what Forest claimed were three obvious infractions throughout the game.
It raised concerns about potential foul play by challenging the integrity of the Video Assistant Referee, Stuart Attwell, who, according to the club, supports Luton, which is pushing Forest to avoid relegation.
Signing off, the statement stated that Forest will “consider its options” about how to proceed.
The club has since issued another statement, stating that it has made a formal request to English football’s referees’ body to release audio recordings of Attwell and on-field referee Anthony Taylor for the incidents in question in order to achieve “full transparency” and ensure “the integrity of our sport is upheld.”
A few hours later, the Premier League responded, stating it was “extremely disappointed” by the tenor of Forest’s post-match statement and will look into the matter. The Football Association also announced that it will look into the matter.
“It is never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials,” the Premier League stated.
Forest, a two-time European champion, has seldom been out of the spotlight since returning to the Premier League last season, following a 24-year hiatus, under the ownership of larger-than-life Evangelos Marinakis.
Signing a record 21 players for a total of almost $160 million in the first transfer window following promotion demonstrated that this was a team that would do things differently.
Forest has been made to pay for its wild spree, with the club being fined four points for violating the league’s financial rules. It is appealing against the sanction.
This season, with the team once again on the verge of relegation and in fourth-to-last place, Forest has adopted an us-versus-the-world mentality in response to what it believes are poor refereeing decisions that are harming the team. This season, it even employed Mark Clattenburg, a former Premier League referee, as a consultant.
Clattenburg has been scrutinising match officials’ decisions and is accountable to Marinakis, a volatile Greek shipping magnate and media baron who, as owner of Olympiakos, Greece’s largest club, has been known for frequent public outbursts against refereeing calls, clashes with Greece’s football federation, and criticism of a decision in 2018 to use foreign referees for the country’s biggest top-flight matches.
Clattenburg wrote in his column for British newspaper The Daily Mail on Monday that Forest has had to “endure some egregious refereeing” this season, and that the decisions at Everton made it “as grim a game as they have encountered since returning to the Premier League.”
“It was a hat trick of howlers from the refereeing team and, unfortunately for Forest, a continuation of an unjust trend that has hampered their survival fight,” Clattenburg said in a statement.
A earlier incident that enraged Forest — and led to Marinakis stepping down to the touchline to express his displeasure and then approaching referee Paul Tierney — occurred during the team’s 1-0 home loss to Liverpool in March.
The winning goal came in the ninth minute of stoppage time — only eight minutes had been allotted — and only after a controversial call by the referee, with Forest not receiving the ball back when play was halted after Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate received a knock to the head at a Forest corner prior to the goal.
Tierney blew his whistle as Forest held possession on the outskirts of Liverpool’s area. After Konate recovered quickly, the referee handed the ball to Liverpool custodian Caoimhin Kelleher, who launched the attack that resulted in the goal.
Clattenburg argued that the ball should have been returned to the team in possession when the game was stopped.
That appears to be a blatant refereeing error, similar to the one made in Liverpool’s loss to Tottenham in October, when the on-field referee and the VAR communicated incorrectly.
Following the blunder, Liverpool stated that it would “explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
Tensions are high, and the financial stakes in the lucrative Premier League are prompting clubs — and their fans on social media — to become more outspoken in their criticisms, particularly about the usage of a video review system that is not proving to be the solution that was promised.
Forest, however, went too far, according to Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool and England defender who is now a prominent analyst on British channel Sky Sports.
“What I just read on social media is like a fan at a pub. “That is embarrassing for Nottingham Forest,” Carragher stated.
“I understand the frustration, but such nonsense, that the VAR is a Luton supporter, they can’t get involved in. You’ve got to show some class as a football club.”
Crystal Palace attempted to lighten the atmosphere with a post on X following its 5-2 win against West Ham that employed language similar to Forest’s fiery tweet.
“Five extremely good goals — two goals conceded — which we simply have to accept,” Palace said in a statement.
“Palace will now enjoy their Sunday.”
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