Mark Clattenburg makes shock announcement after Everton vs Nottingham Forest controversy

Mark Clattenburg has resigned from his role at Nottingham Forest just two-and-a-half months after his appointment as a ‘referee analyst’, following the chaos surrounding the club’s 2-0 defeat to Everton.

The former Premier League referee doubled down on Forest’s now infamous social media posts after full-time, which said the club would “explore its options” after accusing VAR Stuart Attwell of bias amid the claim that he was a Luton Town fan.

He told the Daily Mail that on-field referee Anthony Taylor and the VAR team had made “a hat-trick of howlers”, branding three unawarded penalty shouts as “a joke”. In the lead up to the fixture, Clattenburg had told PGMOL chief Howard Webb that he was expecting a question about Attwell in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Everton game.

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None came forward and it’s understood that Clattenburg and Forest did not raise issue with the official's involvement in the game, despite the club’s initial statement that they had “warned” PGMOL about Attwell’s inclusion. Webb admitted this week that one of the three penalty appeals ought to have been awarded.

Now, Clattenburg has decided to take his leave, stating his presence had been “more of a hindrance than help” to the club and that felt unfairly targeted for criticism by “certain pundits”.

Gary Neville was one analyst who called for Clattenburg to step down from his post in the midst of the infamous Forest social media post. Reacting to the statement on the day, Neville said: “Mark Clattenberg must resign tonight.”

In a statement confirming his exit, Clattenburg insists such ‘referee analyst’ roles should be adopted by more clubs going forward. He said: “This is to announce that I will no longer be providing match analysis services to Nottingham Forest Football Club.

“Since February this year, I have been proud to have done so under a consultancy agreement between NFFC and Referee Consultant Ltd.

“I performed my services under the consultancy agreement in good faith, to the best of my abilities and in the hope of using my extensive experience as a match official to help NFFC understand how decisions in relation to key match incidents are made amid the workings of VAR.

“However, it is now clear that the existence and performance of these consultancy services has caused unintended friction between NFFC and other participants, to the extent that it has become more of a hindrance than help to NFFC.

“It has also led to the unmerited targeting of me, personally, by certain participants and pundits. Such reactions and outcome was not expected and is regrettable, as it is my sincere belief that there is a place for and value in such a role in the modern game.

“I am grateful to NFFC and wish them all the best during the remainder of the season and in the future. It’s been an honour.’”