Just two games in, Premier League referees are already facing an uphill battle this season.
Controversial incidents in the English top flight remained minimal during the new campaign’s opening fortnight, but officials find themselves back under the spotlight of scrutiny through no real fault of their own after Mike Dean’s supposed revelations.
In a series of outlandish claims on Jamie Vardy’s ‘Having A Party’ podcast, Dean declared he would ‘joke about’ on refereeing duties in the Premier League’s pre-VAR era. He purportedly played a series of ‘secret games’ that included refusing to blow his whistle until the 20th minute and standing in the centre circle for as long as possible.
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Mike Dean's claims put referees under fresh suspicion
Professional Game Referees were quick to cast doubt on the 58-year-old’s boastful claims, making it known that no credible evidence exists to suggest he engaged in such antics before the Premier League introduced VAR from the 2019/20 season.
But Dean’s version of events about what he did ‘as a laugh’ while in charge of English football’s flagship fixtures has now pointed a fresh finger of suspicion towards those continuing to carry out officiating duties since he hung up his whistle in May 2022.
Dean knows all too well how damaging misperceptions can be. He received death threats in 2021 over red cards awarded in successive games to West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and Jan Bednarek of Southampton that were overturned on appeal. On a less severe note, the latter years of his career were dogged by claims of favouritism towards Liverpool due to having two fictitious sons who were Anfield season ticket holders.
At best, his soundbites are Walter Mitty-esque; entirely devoid of factual evidence and vindicate Arsene Wenger’s December 2017 retort that he is ‘not honest’ – which earned the legendary Arsenal manager both a three-match ban and £40,000 fine for his troubles. Taken at face value, however, he has opened a tinderbox of potential untold damage on his former colleagues and the regulatory body led by Howard Webb.
This is hardly Dean’s first rodeo, either. In 2023, mere months after standing down from VAR duties, he confessed to refusing to flag Cristian Romero’s hair pull on Marc Cucurella to his ‘mate’ Anthony Taylor in Chelsea and Tottenham’s fiery 2-2 draw in order to spare the referee ‘more grief’. He also isn’t the first former official who allowed his mouth to run away with itself while sat in the comfort of a podcast studio. Mark Clattenburg infamously revealed how he allowed Spurs to ‘self-destruct’ while overseeing 'The Battle of Stamford Bridge’ in 2016 that saw Leicester City crowned unlikely champions.
To hear these alleged tales of yore gives the impression that those still entrusted to uphold the laws of the game are part of a morally bankrupt boys' club, not too dissimilar to the one depicted in the referees' episode of the sitcom 'Inside Number 9'.
Football fans already hold an increasingly dim view of the men in the middle, as the instant chants decrying the Premier League as 'corrupt' after every contentious decision attest. Accusations of club-specific biases by some of the current household names continue to run rampant in both the stands and social media echo chambers.
Webb's attempts to soften the dissent by pulling back the curtain on in-game discussions between appointed officials in monthly video segments analysing controversial calls has provided a new perspective on thought processes. On occasion, the Pro Ref chief has even acknowledged times when his own men got things wrong.
However Dean's remarks, whether true or not, have immediately undermined those efforts to provide transparency and convince supporters that impartiality still guides those tasked with ensuring matches run according to the letter of the law.
Every call, no matter how minor, will now automatically be viewed from a position of mistrust all thanks to Dean's latest attempt to grab another 15 seconds of fame.
