Furious Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough to launch campaign to improve refereeing standards

And he is set to approach both managers' and players' unions with a one-question survey to try to generate some support for his cause.

After seeing several decisions again go against his side last weekend at Port Vale it proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back and he said: “We are going to keep battling these things as we are not quite living in a Trump-like state yet are we where we can't say what we want to?

“We can still challenge our leaders and organisations can't we?

“I think it is for the good of football and, as I don't have long left, I have nothing to lose.

“You talk to every single manager after a game and they all say the same thing – it is just getting worse.

“And it has become accepted now – which is the worst part.

“I am not really bothered as I am coming to the end of my career.

“I don't have another 20 years or 10 years to think about.

“But I am going to do all I can in the meantime to try to get change so everyone benefits in the next five or 10 years if the feeling is as we think it is.”

Clough intends to survey all EFL clubs nationally.

“I will be contacting the League Managers' Association, of which I am a member, asking them to do a survey of their members – the other 71 managers in the EFL – with one simple question – do they think the standard of officiating is improving? Yes or no?

“If they won't do that then I will do it myself.

“I will be doing the same with the PFA, of which I am also a member, to contact the 72 captains in the EFL with that same simple question.

“We talk to managers every week and players talk to other players too and it seems to be an overwhelming no.

“If that is the case then surely there has to be some change at the top?”

He continued: “My beef is not so much with the referees.

“It is what they are being told, how they are being coached and how they are being asked to referee the game. That is my biggest gripe.

“It is how they are being asked to officiate - and that comes from above, even though they have a certain amount of control of it themselves

“So I do have a certain amount of sympathy for them.”

Last weekend Clough felt inconsistent decisions had proved costly for his side and said: “It is a bit of a tipping point as after a couple of months of the season it is pretty obvious things have got to change somewhere.

“Even in the Premier League where we've only had five games, there have been two incidents where they have said sorry, we got that wrong.

“With VAR you get every angle and freeze frame - and they are still getting it wrong. How are they being told to referee?

“It has been getting worse for the last 10 years, anyone in football will tell you that.

“I don't want to pre-empt what I am trying to do with the LMA and PFA but let's see what they say.

“I can't believe it's not been done before now.

“On Saturday officials confirmed they had seen the assault on Aaron Lewis in the second half.

“There was an elbow at him and a punch and the head of referees confirmed he had seen from the stand after the game.

“Yet the referee booked both players for adopting an 'aggressive attitude'.

“I am not very brght but I always thought 'attitude' did not involve contact just by the nature of the definition of the word.

“Attitude is not contact, it is just something you give off or whatever.

“He booked both players despite he and his assistant clearly seeing an attempted elbow and a punch on the back of the head.

“These are the sort of things we will be examining in the coming days. We just want answers.

“We don't get those answers as we are not allowed to see the assessor's report.”

He added: “Referees are refereeing the game for the players first and foremost. So if they are not happy with the way things are and the direction things are going then changes have to be made.

“I don't know who appoints the head of the EFL referees. I know Howard Webb is the supremo. But who appoints the head of the EFL referees? Is it the EFL or Howard Webb, nobody knows.

“I know when we put our usual report in, the referees get to see it, but we don't get to see the assessor's report.

“We never get anything back from them, they don't share their thoughts on how the referee was.

“The referee at Port Vale before the game said if you are not happy with anything just tell me after the game as I am a big boy and I can handle it.

“He didn't seem to be able to when I popped in afterwards though.”

Nigel's famous father Brian Clough was always very tough on his players over their discipline with referees.

But Nigel said: “Don't be fooled, my dad knew that by doing what he did with referees they would possibly be on his side and if there was a marginal decision he might get it,” said Nigel.

“In Forest's League Cup final replay against Liverpool, John O'Hare was tripped a yard outside the box, Pat Partridge gave a penalty, so you might just get the edge. That is why he did it more than anything.”

Indeed, Clough senior fell foul of some of the worst moments in refereeing history too, twice seeing his sides cheated by refs being bribed – a far cry from the game's current inconsistency problems - and losing an FA Cup final with Forest through some of the worst decisions ever seen on that stage.

“In 1972 Derby played Juventus in a European Cup semi-final,” said Nigel.

“My dad called them 'cheating Italian b*****ds' afterwards as Juventus were caught going into the referee's room at half-time and many years later it was proved that they had bought the referee.

“They cheated him out of the European Cup semi-final.

“With Forest in 1983 against Anderlecht, they went 2-0 up in the home leg and then lost 3-0 in the return where the referee was again found to have been bribed.

“My dad only got to four European semi-finals, two of them they went on and won and in the other two the referees were bribed and corrupt.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, I’m referring solely to two events that happened 40-50 years ago in that regard. I’m not suggesting whatsoever or for one moment that anything like that is taking place today. So let me be absolutely clear on that.

“Then in the famous FA Cup final in 1991 Roger Milford, who looked magnificent on the day with his flowing locks, let Paul Gascoigne leave the pitch on a stretcher without a yellow card after two of the worst tackles you will ever see in football.

“If he had sent him off after the first challenge which was studs up on Gary Parker's chest he would have saved Paul's career and would have done the right thing and we might have gone on and won it.”

He added: “We have one mandatory fine here at Mansfield and that is for dissent. Any player who does that is fined automatically.

“It's 10 per cent, then it goes to 25, 50 and 100 per cent of your weekly wage.

“So we have as much respect for referees as anyone. Our technical area has I think the best disciplinary record since this official crackdown.

“There has been one exception to that recently though when Baily Cargill was booked for dissent at Lincoln.

“I asked the referee afterwards what Baily had said to him and he said nothing.

“The referee said Baily had not said a word but he came to me indicating his shirt had been pulled.

“I said that is not dissent then and the referee said it's perception.

“I have never said anything to the contrary about how difficult a job it is.

“My point is more how are they being asked to referee, rather than the referees themselves.”