Supporters on the wrong end of a contentious refereeing decision like to believe the whistle blower is against them - but in Nottingham Forest's case, that was true, back in 1984. Forest were taking on Anderlecht in the Uefa Cup semi-finals and had travelled to Belgium with a 2-0 lead from the first leg. With a spot in the final looking secured, however, Brian Clough's side ended up on the receiving end of one of the most controversial refereeing decisions of all time. Emilio Guruceta had been appointed referee of this tie and the Spaniard already had a reputation for controversy having sent off two Italians and awarded Standard Liège a dubious penalty against Napoli. Yet that didn't compare to what would happen here. Anderlecht had gone into a 2-0 lead with their second goal, tying the game 2-2 on aggregate, a result of another highly-contentious penalty awarded by Guruceta. The Belgian side would go 3-0 up before Forest were awarded a corner in stoppage time. Paul Hart headed the swinging cross into the back of the Anderlecht goal to make it 3-3 on aggregate and send Forest through via the away goal's rule, yet Guruceta, for reasons still unknown, disallowed the goal. After his death, Anderlecht admitted they had BRIBED Guruceta £18,000 to fix the match. The Belgian's were barred from European football for a season and Forest denied a chance to win the Uefa Cup.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
