Mark Clattenburg reveals the five most annoying players to referee

Mark Clattenburg reveals the five most annoying players to referee during his officiating days including some ex-Prem stars.

The 46-year-old was one of the most recognisable refs in the game during his spell officiating in the Premier League between 2004 and 2017.

In that time, the Englishman also took charge of the Champions League and Euro 2016 final, making major decisions in 576 games in his career in all.

He has been on the pitch with all of the biggest names in football, and many of those coming across rather annoying to him, and, speaking to the Daily Mail, he revealed who are the top five.

It won’t come as a surprise to any one that former Manchester City and Newcastle United forward Craig Bellamy is on the list, with the ref explaining, “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.

“Because I’m a Newcastle fan, I had the luxury of never refereeing him when I started. I just wish he had stayed at Newcastle for a bit longer!”

Clattenburg, who started out at Northern League level, worked with Roy Keane as a pundit during the 2018 World Cup, with Keane still in the national headlines for his television work.

Mark Clattenburg on Roy Keane:

🗣 “I still smile at the first time I came across Roy Keane in 2004. He screamed at us for a corner and I’m sure it was a goal kick but because he screamed at us so loudly, I gave a corner, I was that petrified of him.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/UCXbTjCLDr

— Footy365 (@Footyy365) March 5, 2020

The referee said Roy was great to work with now but was on his most annoying list. “When he played he was hard to manage,” the ex-official explained.

“…Remember the incident with Andy D’Urso when he screamed in his face, that attempt to bully the referee is what he was like.

“…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.”

In the Champions League final he reffed, Clattenburg went viral for a particular moment, seemingly licking the air for no reason whatsoever, after a dive by then Real Madrid defender Pepe.

Pepe so pathetic. But what is that from Clattenburg?! 😂 #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/FskHYiRHkP

— Steve Williamson (@WilliamAndSons) May 28, 2016

The Portugal defender is often a dirty player on the pitch and it’s no surprise the ref also had him on the list. “He was another player you just couldn’t trust. A game could be easy and straightforward then he would do something sly.

“…He was a wind-up merchant and not fun to referee one bit, you had to be on your guard constantly.”

During his career, Clattenburg was accused of making a racist comment by John Obi Mikel.

The official was cleared of doing anything wrong and the lack of an apology from the Nigerian landed him on the list. “He has never apologised and that is disappointing because it could have ruined my life,” the Durham man said.

‘I can’t apologise for something my colleague said he did’: Chelsea icon John Obi Mikel says he WON’T say sorry to Mark Clattenburg for ‘almost ruining his career’ with accusations of racism that saw him ‘want to break down his door’ before ref was cleared. pic.twitter.com/dZlMpZwIJc

— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) March 23, 2021

“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.”

Former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was another name on the list.

“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.

“I knew players were provoking him but he was probably lucky to avoid being sent off and giving away penalties, as would happen now.

“But 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.”

Meanwhile, former Man Utd and Leeds player Rio Ferdinand is named as one of the worst players he had to deal with as a ref .

“I found him difficult to referee during that Fergie era because he was always trying to play mind games,” Mark adds.

“He tried to get under your skin, probably to get that next decision.

“He was such a difficult player to referee as he was always in your face. When I got older and a bit more wiser, he probably left us alone more.”

Three years ago, Clattenburg also named Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho as the worst manager he dealt with during his career in England, but HE explained that it was not always like that:

“When he first came to England, Jose Mourinho was special. He had time for everyone, you could have a conversation with him about football, about life, about anything.

“But when he came back things were different. He had a difficult relationship with me and refereeing.”

Clattenburg pinpointed a decision in a game against Stoke as a flashpoint for the deterioration of their working relationship:

“I remember this game at Stoke, where he came in 30 minutes afterwards as usual. He was adamant I had missed a penalty decision and that he’d seen it on the video.

“I then watched the video and the ball quite clearly hit Ryan Shawcross’ chest instead of his hand. I don’t know what video he’d seen or if he was just playing mind games but I had to drive 200 miles home thinking I had made another mistake which eats away at you.

“When I got home and found I hadn’t made the mistake I thought ‘why?’

“Being a referee is sometimes a tough job but you don’t need the other side of it where they play mind games to try and get into your head because there’s no need for it. Refereeing is a tough life at times.”

He also had kind words for former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, ex-Brighton boss Chris Hughton and Burnley’s Sean Dyche as well as Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany.