The entire scope of Nottingham Forest coach Steven Reid’s profanity-filled verbal attack on referee Paul Tierney after the contentious Premier League match with Liverpool earlier this month has been made public by the Football Association.
Reid was fined £5,000 and given a two-match touchline ban for acting inappropriately and using derogatory or abusive remarks at Tierney following Darwin Nunez’s late winner at the City Ground.
Three times he was discovered to have called Tierney a “c**t,” with the first instance earning him a red card.
A protest that the referee had mistakenly awarded Liverpool control with a drop ball one minute and fifty seconds prior to the game-winning goal sparked the loud outcry.
The supplied written reasons provide information on the severity of the abuse aimed at the referee.
“On the field of play, after the final whistle, I was surrounded by Nottingham Forest’s substitutes and backroom staff,” Tierney testified in an Extraordinary Incident Report Form to an Independent Commission.
“One of those who approached me was Steven Reid (a coach of Nottingham Forest) who was not listed on the team sheet. He asked me about a decision and I said to him that I will speak to him inside and not outside on the field of play. He then continued to question me and I repeated that I would speak to him inside.
“He then said, ‘it’s the same every week, you c**t.’ I showed him the red card and then he said ‘I worked with you f**king lot every f**king week last season. It’s the same every f**king week you c**t’.
“He then continued to use the word f**k and called me a c**t on at least one more occasion [making that a minimum of 3 in total] as we were making our way off the field of play.”
Despite Reid’s repeated denials, the commission concluded that the case was strong.
Following their admission that they neglected to make sure players and those occupying the technical area did not act inappropriately after the final whistle, Forest was fined £75,000.
The commission decided that although while the Regulatory Commission was aware of the circumstances and the impact of the players’ defeat in the match, this did not excuse the acknowledged behaviors.
“It cannot be viewed as legitimizing participant misconduct because disputed decisions and last-minute goals are common.”
According to Ref Support UK, Reid’s comparatively tiny fine is indicative of the culture of leniency that exists at the highest levels of authority.
“‘Cheat’ is the only ‘c’ word that could be worse than that directed at a referee,” declared Martin Cassidy, the group’s founder and chief executive.
“In my opinion, the FA is making progress in trying to apply suitable penalties, but they are being a little more forgiving when it comes to the professional game.
I would urge the FA to remove the word “regular” from their discussion of point deductions for repeat offenders in order to increase the deterrent.
“There is a serious issue as there is an obvious replication of what we observe at the top of the game at the grassroots level. I’m hoping that more appropriate penalties for this kind of abuse will be implemented in the not too distant future.
According to Cassidy, the unions representing players and managers ought to be more aggressive in denouncing the actions of their members.
“I’ve been frustrated by it for a long time. What positions do the League Managers’ Association (LMA) and Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) hold on this?
“We witness abuse escalating often, but the PFA and LMA remain silent. They do nothing except sit on the sidelines, both literally and figuratively. It is now necessary for them to take further action in order to denounce and stop this behavior.
