Nearly every football fan on the planet is guilty of giving a referee stick for making a bad decision in the heat of the moment.

Controversial calls have been part and parcel of the game for as long as the sport has existed and that’s down to the simple fact that match officials can’t get be perfect.

It’s easy to forget we have the benefit of slow motion replays and watching incidents several times over – the people in charge of enforcing the laws of the game only get once chance.

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However, sometimes there are decisions that are so blatantly wrong that it’s impossible to let them off the hook.

Just ask Keith Stroud – who on Wednesday evening found himself in the awkward situation of awarding Newcastle United a penalty – which was successfully converted – only to disallow the goal and issue a free kick to visitors Burton Albion.

In case you haven't already seen it, check out the terrible call in the video below.

The referee scratched out the Magpies’ opener and gave a free kick the other way after ruling Dwight Gayle had encroached on the penalty area before the goal was scored.

However, a statement from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited has admitted Stroud and his assistants got it wrong.

As per football Law 14, an indirect free kick should be awarded if the penalty is missed following attacking encroachment, whereas a retake is required if it is scored.

As published by Sky Sports, the statement read: ”In this evening's EFL Championship game between Newcastle United and Burton Albion, referee Keith Stroud awarded Newcastle a penalty in the 29th minute.

"As Matt Ritchie took the kick, Dwight Gayle encroached in the penalty area. An indirect free-kick was awarded to Burton, but the Laws of the Game state that the penalty kick should have been retaken.

"Unfortunately the referee has misapplied the Law. Keith and his team are understandably upset at the lapse in concentration and apologise for the mistake."

Luckily for Stroud, Newcastle went on to win the game 1-0 thanks to a Matt Ritchie goal in the second-half, softening the blow of what was an awful mistake he surely won’t repeat any time soon.