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Former Reds man Paul Hart has opened up about Nottingham Forest's controversial UEFA Cup semi-final defeat to Anderlecht which saw referee Emilio Guruceta Muro bribed by the Belgian club's president to fix the result.

The current Stoke City assistant manager says that his then boss, Brian Clough, had his suspicions about their opponents days before the game.

Anderlecht were beaten following a penalty shoot-out with Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in the final, but proof of their match-fixing was not uncovered until 1997, four years after Forest submitted evidence to UEFA.

"We had beaten Anderlecht 2-0 in the home leg but we knew that they were a tough side and had some decent players," Hart told Stoke's official matchday programme.

"We went into the away leg in good spirits having already beaten PSV, Celtic and Vorswarts on our travels.

(Image: Getty)

"On the Monday before the game we were all sat around the hotel reading the English papers and Brian Clough had a bit of a dig at the Spanish referee.

"He had said: 'I hope he treats us fairly', which was unusual for him to go public with something like that, and we all thought, 'What's that all about?'

"That's when I said to the boys, 'I hope it's not the same Spanish referee that officiated us against Real Madrid two years earlier'. I was playing for Leeds in a pre-season competition and he sent two of our players off - he was terrible!

"When I came into the tunnel the first person I saw was the referee and shock horror, it was the same guy. I thought, 'Brilliant'."

Anderlecht had taken the lead early on when Enzo Scifo fired the Belgian side ahead, but it was their second goal that would leave Clough scratching his head.

(Image: PA)

Kenneth Brylle Larsen dived dramatically in the area and, just as everybody thought the referee was about to wave for play to continue, he pointed to the spot.

"It wouldn't have been so bad but there was nobody around him. Our nearest player to him was Kenny Swain, who was about three-yards away!" he said.

The worst was yet to come. Brylle converted his penalty before Anderlecht extended their lead to three with just two minutes left on the clock. Forest were now heading out of the cup.

"We didn't panic, we still pushed on because if we scored we would go through on away goals.

"Then we got a corner deep into stoppage time and I met Colin Walsh's cross as clean as a whistle, no pushing, just BOOM!" he shouted.

"What a goal! I've seen the footage since and their 'keeper is just about to have a right go at his defenders and then there is a delay.

"Just as I am celebrating, thinking 'we've done it', I hear a whistle and he awards a free-kick. What for? Well nobody knows even to this day.

"Fifteen years later we found out that Anderlecht's president, Constant Vanden Stock, had used a local gangster to hand £18,000 over to the referee.

"It was shocking but, interestingly enough, Brian Clough was very quiet after the game so we thought that something had gone on but he didn't say a word, he was just gutted.

"We think that he had recognised that something shady had happened."