The Ref Factor : Mark Clattenburg

The Ref Factor – The feature that judges whether or not the bloke with the whistle really is a w*nker.

Ref: Mark Clattenburg

Born: County Durham

Age: 35

Biggest cock-up: January 2005 – Manchester United VS Tottenham Hotspur

Remember Pedro Mendes’ 45-yard wonder shot that Roy Carroll fumbled into the net? Yeah, well, unfortunately for Spurs fans, Clattenburg was the only one in the stadium that didn’t see it go two-yards over the line. United were fortunate enough to escape with a 0-0 draw.

This Season:

Mark Clattenburg took the tough decision to send off young defender Derek Boyata in the match between City and Arsenal at Eastlands that finished 0-3. A tough call that many refs could have easily bottled so early in to a match, but nonetheless, one that was 100% spot on.

On the ninth league game of this campaign, ‘Marky boy’ returned to his spiritual home, Old Trafford, for a clash between Manchester United and Tottenham. Needless to say, the game was a nightmare. Nani scored in the final few minutes after Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes dropped the ball in front of him for what he thought was a free-kick for a handball by the Portuguese star. ‘Arry Redknapp was particularly fierce in his criticism of the Tyneside official, saying: “I thought it was a scandalous decision — he’ll come up with some excuse for why he didn’t see it. He made a real mess of the situation.”

Four days later, Clattenburg was rewarded for his Old Trafford horror-show with a Champions League debut between Auxerre and Ajax. Logical.

Related Posts

• Who are ya? Romelu Lukaku
  Who are ya? Romelu Lukaku
• Where are they now? Manucho
  Where are they now? Manucho
• Goals nobody remembers – Beckham’s cross against Zaragoza (2006)
  Goals nobody remembers – Beckham’s cross against Zaragoza (2006)
• Goals nobody remembers? Zidane vs Valladolid (2003/04)
  Goals nobody remembers? Zidane vs Valladolid (2003/04)