NOTTINGHAM FOREST have copped a hefty £75,000 FA fine - after first-team coach Steven Reid called referee Paul Tierney a c*** during a furious post-match blast.
Reid hurled the hugely offensive insult at Tierney THREE TIMES during an X-rated, expletive-packed tirade following Forest's 1-0 home defeat by Liverpool on March 2.
The Forest coach was fined £5,000 and banned from the touchline for two matches for his hat-trick of verbal volleys after losing the plot in the immediate aftermath of Darwin Nunez's controversial 99th-minute winner.
Ref Tierney incensed Forest's players and backroom staff when he controversially gifted Liverpool possession of the ball following a stoppage-time injury to Ibrahima Konate.
Forest had been on the attack and in possession when Tierney halted the game to allow Konate to receive treatment.
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However instead of restarting play with a dropped ball to Forest deep inside Liverpool's half, he controversially handed the ball to Reds 'keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
He launched a Liverpool attack which ultimately led to Nunez's last-gasp winner and at full-time Tierney was surrounded by furious Forest players and Reid.
In his Extraordinary Incident Report, Tierney wrote: "Following the final whistle I was surrounded by members of Nottingham Forrest’s substitutes and backroom staff on the field of play.
"One of those who approached me was Steven Reid (a coach of Nottingham Forest) who was not listed on the teamsheet.
"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.
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"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***.”
"I showed him the red card and then he said “I worked with you f***ing lot every f***ing week last season. It’s the same every f***ing week you c***”.
"He then continued to use the word f*** and called me a c*** on at least one more occasion (making that a minimum of three in total) as we were making our way off the field of play."
Reid admitted the first charge but denied repeating the language in the second charge.
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However the three-man Regulatory Commission examined video footage of the incident and judged that the written submissions by Tierney and his assistant officials were consistent in their recollection of events and found Reid guilty of both charges.
Forest could have been hit with a maximum £250,000 fine but the Commission decided to fine the club £75,000 after finding it guilty of surrounding officials for the fourth time in 18 months.
