Stuart Attwell 'deliberately STOPPED' from refereeing Premier League team for two years

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Stuart Attwell has been 'barred' from refereeing Nottingham Forest for the past two years.

The 43-year-old was last involved in a Forest game on 21 April, 2024 - a 2-0 defeat against Everton that led to the Reds posting an infamous tweet criticising his decision-making as the video assistant referee (VAR). Forest, who were subsequently punished for the outburst, noted that Attwell was a fan of Luton Town, their direct relegation rival at the time.

"Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept," Forest said. "We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options."

Attwell has not been involved in a Forest game since, and The Athletic claim that he's been deliberately kept off their matches. There has been no indication when the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) will reintroduce Attwell to Forest fixtures in any capacity.

He has been left out of refereeing, VAR, and fourth-official duties for all Forest matches over the past two years. The PGMOL have several policies in place, which were approved in August of 2024, around referee appointments to ensure there are no issues with conflicts of interest, while match officials must submit a declaration of interests form on an annual basis.

The controversial match between Everton and Forest ended with the latter facing a charge from the English Football Association (FA) for an "attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale".

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In January, Attwell was due to be the fourth official for Forest's FA Cup third-round tie at Wrexham, but he was later replaced by Darren England without any announcement.

Attwell isn't the first referee to be taken away from refereeing a specific club, however. Mark Clattenburg had a six-year absence from Everton's Goodison Park after making several high-profile decisions during a Merseyside derby in 2007.

Meanwhile, Martin Atkinson appeared to be kept off Manchester United matches after issues involving Sir Alex Ferguson and assistant manager Carlos Queiroz.

For Attwell, he decided against giving Forest three penalties during the defeat to Everton, a result that left them one point above the relegation zone.

The Reds were handed a £750,000 fine after it was ruled, following a regulatory commission, that their tweet alleged possible bias.

Attwell's most recent Premier League game as a referee came in the 2-2 draw between Tottenham and Brighton on Saturday. He is due to be the man in the middle for West Ham's clash against Everton this weekend.

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