Nottingham Forest have largely escaped any serious issues with referees this year, and for one official in particular, Nottingham is not a destination he needs to put into his Sat Nav anymore.
Forest have had games where they’ve felt hard done by, most notably at home to Manchester United, where Amad Diallo handled in the box during a 2-2 draw, and United’s first goal scored from a corner never went out of play in the first place.
Vitor Pereira’s team have largely avoided any major controversy on the pitch that has been detrimental to the Reds, and now some news has come to light over Stuart Attwell’s participation in Forest matches.
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Stuart Attwell avoids Nottingham Forest for two years
The Athletic have this week done a piece on Attwell’s omission from Forest matches and it would appear that Howard Webb has taken the decision not to appoint him to any of the Reds’ matches.
It all stems back to a game at Goodison Park in 2024 when Forest lost 2-0 to Everton in a game when three penalties could have been avoided in favour of Forest.
The last of the trio of decisions was a complete farce, with Callum Hudson-Odoi quite clearly fouled and the fourth official, Attwell, turning a blind eye to it.
It’s not clear who has made the decision to keep Attwell away from Forest matches, but it would appear that it’s not completely coincidental.
In January, Attwell should have been the fourth man for the FA Cup trip to Wrexham, only to be replaced by Darren England at the eleventh hour.
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Right now, there is nothing to suggest that Attwell will return to Forest games any time soon and perhaps that will make Evangelos Marinakis extremely happy.
In 2023, Attwell sent off Joe Worrall and gave Manchester United a soft penalty in a 3-2 win for the Red Devils over the Reds and perhaps something good has come out of that fateful day at Everton back in April 2024.
Forest have set a bit of a precedent here when it comes to a certain official not doing their matches, and it remains to be seen if the PGMOL change their stance on this anytime soon.
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