The night Forest were REALLY robbed by a dodgy ref
Forty years on, the incredible tale of the official who took a bribe to ensure Cloughie’s lads crashed out of Europe
Perhaps someone at Nottingham Forest had this looming anniversary in mind when the club started peddling conspiracy theories like Donald Trump on polling day, blaming officials for a defeat at everton.
For it was 40 years ago yesterday that Forest became victims of a verified corruption scandal, when spanish referee emilio Guruceta Muro accepted a bribe to make sure they would not beat anderlecht in a UeFa Cup semi-final.
Guruceta banked more than a million Belgian francs, then worth about £18,000 for awarding anderlecht a penalty that never was and ruling out a goal scored by paul hart in the last minute which would have sent Brian Clough’s team into a final against Tottenham hotspur.
‘It still hurts,’ admits former centre half hart. ‘I would have loved the chance to play in a european final and we fancied our chances against spurs.’
Forest had won the first leg against anderlecht 2-0 at the City Ground, thanks to a pair of late goals by steve hodge but the players thought Clough seemed unusually concerned about the return in Brussels.
‘Like a cat on hot bricks,’ according to full back Kenny swain. ‘he was sitting next to me in the dressing room about an hour before kick-off. Opposite us there was an open door, and we could see a flurry of activity, people coming and going at the other end of the corridor.’
Clough sent secretary Ken smales to investigate. ‘Ken came back, saying it was nothing,’ recalls swain. ‘It was “just the referees”, he said. But you could tell the gaffer was feeling uneasy about it all.’
Hart had experienced similar feelings when he picked up an english newspaper at the team hotel ahead of the game and read comments from Clough, clearly wary about the appointment of referee Guruceta.
‘He never had a pop at the officials,’ says hart. ‘Certainly not prior to a game and very rarely afterwards. I said to Kenny swain, I hoped it wasn’t the same spanish referee we had when I played for Leeds in a pre-season tournament in La Linea, near Gibraltar.
‘We played against real Madrid. It was only a friendly but the game was broadcast live across spain and he sent off two of our players for nothing. We stepped into the tunnel at anderlecht and there he was, the same referee, looking back down the tunnel towards me. I said to Kenny, “It’s him”.’
Forest had no complaints about the first anderlecht goal, fired in by a young enzo scifo, but a series of dubious decisions led to the second, a penalty given for a foul by swain on Kenneth Brylle.
‘He got in behind me, clipped his own heels and went flying,’ recalls swain. ‘I didn’t touch him.’ Denmark winger Brylle converted from the spot, levelling the tie with half an hour to play.
Swain did not feel any better when years later he met a Dutch coach who had played for anderlecht and jokingly confirmed Brylle had a reputation for diving.
Erwin Vandenbergh made it 3-0 in the 88th minute and then came hart’s ‘goal’, headed in from a corner. ‘Boomed it,’ as he says. ‘Bounced down and into the net. No pushing, no leaning. Fair and square.’ It would have sent Forest through on away goals. referee Guruceta ruled it out.
‘There was, what was to me, an unreasonable delay before he blew the whistle,’ says hart. ‘It bounced in past Ian Bowyer so I asked him if he could have been offside. he said, “Was I heck”. The referee must have realised, “There goes my money”.’
With more than a hint of sarcasm, Forest midfielder Bowyer offered Guruceta a handshake at full time. ‘he refused to shake my hand and that stuck with me,’ says Bowyer. ‘he either felt guilty or was just desperate to get off the pitch.
‘I felt cheated. We all felt cheated. I look back 40 years on, and it still doesn’t sit any easier but at the time, what can you do? We were dejected and the manager was quiet, bitterly disappointed because he felt he had been done like this before.’
That was in 1973, when his Derby County side lost 3-1 to Juventus in the first leg of a european Cup tie. Clough accused the Italians of ‘buying’ the German referee, who booked archie Gemmill and roy McFarland, ruling them out of the return.
he walked into the post-match press conference in Turin, declared loudly he would not be talking to any of the ‘cheating b*****ds’ and asked esteemed British sportswriter Brian Glanville if he would mind translating those words. In Brussels, 11 years later, Clough was more subdued.
Bowyer says: ‘he came over, trying to pick me up, saying, “Make sure you’re with us for the next european campaign”.’
Forest boarded their charter flight and returned to the mundanity of domestic football with a draw against stoke City. They finished the season third. spurs, who finished eighth, won the UeFa Cup, beating anderlecht on penalties.
The next season, Forest crashed out of the UeFa Cup in the first round. Beaten again in Belgium, this time by Club Bruges, and they have only been back in european competition once since, in 1995-96 when they reached the last eight of the UeFa Cup. It was the same year Constant Vanden stock stepped down as anderlecht chairman, handing control to his son roger as the sinister details of the Forest semi-final spilled into the public domain. he had been blackmailed for years by petty criminals Jean elst and rene van aeken, who had evidence of the bribe. elst had made the payment to the referee at the hilton hotel in Brussels.
They sent documents to the Belgian Fa in 1992, with instructions for it to be passed to UeFa, who took their time but finally banned anderlecht from europe for one year, in 1997.
Vanden stock confessed to making the bribe, although he called it a loan. The club, who were defending the trophy in 1984, had panicked after a poor result in the first leg. ‘It confirmed our darkest thoughts,’ says hart, now 70.
Anderlecht’s referees liaison officer raymond De Deken was banned for life. elst and Van aeken were jailed for two years, although the blackmail convictions were later overturned. some Forest players tried unsuccessfully to sue for damages.
And referee Guruceta died in a car accident in 1987, aged 45, leaving no known record of which team he supported.