The club alleged that they had previously notified the referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), about the VAR, Attwell, having a bias towards relegation rivals Luton. However, PGMOL failed to take any action. In light of this, the club urged for rules regarding referees’ and VARs’ allegiances to be expanded to consider “contextual rivalries” in addition to local rivalries. Despite the controversy surrounding Forest’s statement, Attwell received public support from Luton fans at Wolves, where a banner with the text “Stuart Attwell: He’s one of our own” was displayed in the away section.
Following a 5-1 defeat to Brentford at Kenilworth Road, Hatters fell behind with a goal from Hwang Hee-chan just before half time. This was followed by a diving header from Toti, doubling the hosts’ lead five minutes into the second half. Despite a goal from Carlton Morris ten minutes before the end of normal time, Luton was unable to avoid their third consecutive loss, marking their fifth loss in six games.
