Highlights
- Mark Clattenburg, a Premier League referee for over 13 years, named the five most annoying players he refereed during his career.
- Craig Bellamy and Roy Keane were among the players Clattenburg found difficult to manage on the pitch.
- Pepe, John Obi Mikel and Jens Lehmann also proved troublesome for different reasons.
Mark Clattenburg is arguably the most famous referee in recent Premier League history. The 49-year-old officiated some of the biggest games in football, including European Championship and Champions League finals. Before leaving England to become Saudi Arabia's Head of Refereeing in early 2017, he was the best that the top-flight had to offer - and the players (mostly) liked him, too.
The football teams Premier League referees support
Premier League refs are always accused by fans of having allegiances to certain clubs, but who do they really support?Referees have a pretty poor reputation, though, and there are some managers, players and fans who can't stand them. However, it turns out they aren't always fond of the footballers they referee either. Clattenburg dealt with some rowdy, over-the-top characters, so it's only natural that he came across several that he found annoying.
Clattenburg, who was appointed in a specialist role in March by Nottingham Forest and also appeared on the hit BBC show Gladiators, refereed during an era filled with feisty players, many of whom presented a challenge or two. Indeed, in a column for the Daily Mail, Clattenburg - a Premier League ref for 13 years - revealed the five most annoying players he presided over.
Craig Bellamy
Described as a 'nightmare' to referee
Let's face it: Craig Bellamy will probably be on most referees' lists when it comes to the most annoying players they officiated. The former Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United man was known for his hot-headed personality, and he certainly had a tendency to rub people the wrong way - just ask Clattenburg, who said: "The worst one - and I've thought it for years - was Bellamy. Bellamy was a nightmare to referee and most of us felt the same. He would snarl at you and throw his arms around, constantly challenging you.
"His language was awful, just plain rude."
"As a referee, it is difficult when you have a problem player like that because you are drawn to him and it's a distraction."
Clattenburg had sent Bellamy off while he played for Manchester City in a game against Bolton in 2009, which led to their relationship becoming increasingly strained. The former ref added: "I had booked him for dissent - I could have shown a red, the language was that bad - and I then gave him a second yellow for diving, although replays showed it was a penalty. I was wrong. He went mental, as you can imagine."
Craig Bellamy's Premier League statistics |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
Yellow cards |
Red cards |
294 |
81 |
37 |
47 |
2 |
Roy Keane
A player capable of being nasty
Roy Keane is another player who was famously a handful. He was known for trying to, and sometimes succeeding in, intimidating his opponents and the officials. The former Manchester United man was always regarded as a tough guy on the pitch, but Clattenburg didn't like the way he used to try to "bully" referees.
He said: "When he played he was hard to manage. Remember the incident with Andy D'Urso when he screamed in his face, that attempt to bully the referee is what he was like. I do think that came from Sir Alex Ferguson as well, though. It was never about influencing the decision that had gone with Manchester United, it was always about applying more pressure ahead of the next one.
“You just couldn't trust Roy either. You never knew if he was going to blow up or do something nasty, like the tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland."
"That was a disgrace, it was pre-meditated. He always came across as stone-cold and wanted to be the hard man. That causes problems for referees because the ego kicks in, and it becomes a fight, like it did between him and Patrick Vieira.”
Keane's no-nonsense attitude certainly earned him a few enemies over the years but, on the flip side, it has also helped make him one of the most entertaining football pundits on television.
Roy Keane's Premier League statistics |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
Yellow cards |
Red cards |
366 |
39 |
33 |
69 |
7 |
Alfie Haaland's View on Roy Keane Horror Tackle During Man Utd v Man City
Alfie Haaland spoke about Roy Keane's horror challenge years after the infamous incident during the 2001 Manchester derbyPepe
Football's ultimate wind-up merchant
Like Keane, Pepe was notorious for his aggressive attitude that rubbed a lot of players, fans and, yes, even officials up the wrong way. His antics made him a fan favourite at Real Madrid, but just about everyone else disliked him. Clattenburg wasn't a fan himself, commenting:
"He was a wind-up merchant and not fun to referee one bit, you had to be on your guard constantly."
The former ref recalled what it was like to deal with the Portuguese centre-back in the 2016 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, adding: “Everyone always asks about the incident in the 2016 Champions League final when I did that thing with my tongue as he was rolling around on the floor, play-acting. In my head, I was thinking: 'How soft are you for a big man?'
"He did it twice in that game, trying to get an Atletico Madrid player sent off. Another referee might have fallen for it but I'd done my homework and, while you should try not to pre-judge, I knew exactly what his mentality was like and I needed that knowledge to handle him."
Clattenburg continued: "He was another player you just couldn't trust. A game could be easy and straightforward then he would do something sly. In that final Real Madrid went 1-0 up in the first half but the goal was slightly offside and we realised at half-time - it was a hard call and my assistant missed it.
"I gave Atletico a penalty early in the second half when Pepe fouled Fernando Torres. Pepe was furious and said to me in perfect English: 'Never a penalty, Mark.' I said to him: 'Your first goal shouldn't have stood.' It shut him up. People might think that sounds odd because two wrongs don't make a right and referees don't think like that, but players do. I knew by saying that to him it would make him more accepting of the situation."
In his prime, Pepe was the sort of player teams wanted to play alongside but despised playing against. His trophy cabinet speaks for itself, though, so he must have done something right.
Pepe's Real Madrid statistics |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
Yellow cards |
Red cards |
334 |
15 |
20 |
83 |
6 |
John Obi Mikel
Clattenburg is still waiting for an apology
This one might come as a surprise to some fans. John Obi Mikel wasn't exactly known for being a nuisance to officials on the pitch, but it's a personal incident between the two men that saw him included here. In 2012, Chelsea lodged a formal complaint to the FA after Mikel accused Clattenburg of making a racist comment during a game. Despite being cleared by the governing body, the incident still hurts the official.
Clatteburg said: "I have picked Mikel because of the incident during a Chelsea v Manchester United match in 2012 when he accused me of making a racist comment, which was not right, and I was later cleared by the FA.
"He has never apologised and that is disappointing because it could have ruined my life."
"I fell out of love with refereeing for a while after that but couldn't quit because I had a family to support and no other career to pursue. It all left a bad feeling that still lingers today. Mikel only heard the allegation from his team-mate Ramires, who did not speak English. Other Chelsea players have since apologised but nothing from Mikel. He had the chance to say sorry and speak to me about it during a Nigeria friendly in the United States before the World Cup in 2014, and I would have welcomed that, but nothing, sadly.”
There aren't many examples of Mikel getting on the wrong side of someone like this, but falsely accusing someone of racism and then failing to apologise when they're cleared is certainly enough to cause a vendetta.
John Obi Mikel Premier League statistics |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
Yellow cards |
Red cards |
249 |
1 |
11 |
38 |
2 |
Jens Lehmann
Arsenal hero would never stop whinging
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann sounds like a miserable player to referee. The German had a solid career in the Premier League for the Gunners and played a key role for the club during the 2000s. He was loved by fans of the club but apparently wasn't someone that referees enjoyed working with. Indeed, Clattenburg believes his penchant for whining actually became a weakness.
The retired ref said: "He was just so irritable and never stopped, one of those miserable blokes who would whinge about everything and everyone. If the ball was round, he would whinge. If the ball was white, he would whinge. You would think, 'Just give it a rest'.
"He was a great goalkeeper but I honestly think this was a weakness in him and other teams identified that. They would stand on his toes at corners and he would react by pushing them.
"He would do snidey, little things himself that made it difficult, and I didn't enjoy refereeing him at all. He was erratic and his antics were not easy to deal with."
Jens Lehmann's Premier League statistics |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances |
Goals conceded |
Clean sheets |
Yellow cards |
Red cards |
148 |
125 |
55 |
12 |
0 |
Fans are always giving officials a hard time, and sometimes the stick is not entirely undeserved. There have been many poor displays of refereeing over the years with some terrible mistakes costing teams dearly; however, at the same time, hearing the stuff they have to deal with from players on a weekly basis, maybe it's time we cut them more slack.