| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Leslie Dean | ||
| Born | 2 June 1968 Wirral, England |
||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| ?–1997 | Northern Premier League | Referee | |
| 1995–1997 | Football League | Assistant referee | |
| 1997–2000 | Football League | Referee | |
| 2000– | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2003– | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Michael Leslie Dean (born 2 June 1968[1]) is an English professional football referee who officiates primarily in the Premier League. He is based in Heswall, Wirral.
Since his appointment as a Select Group referee in 2000, Dean has officiated a number of notable matches, including the FA Community Shield and the finals of the FA Trophy, FA Cup and Football League Cup.
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Dean began refereeing in 1985. He eventually officiated in the Northern Premier League as a referee,[2] becoming a Football League assistant referee in 1995, and progressing to the full referees' list in 1997. He was appointed to the Select Group of referees for the Premier League in 2000, being subsequently promoted to the FIFA list in 2003. Also in 2003, he was fourth official to Graham Barber at the FA Cup final held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, when Arsenal beat Southampton 1–0.[1]
Dean took control of the 2004 FA Community Shield match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium, a game which saw the London side win 3–1.[3] He had also refereed the FA Trophy final of that year.[1]
Dean was originally appointed to referee the 2006 FA Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium on 13 May 2006 but the Football Association later replaced him with Alan Wiley after concerns were raised about Dean's ability to be impartial towards Liverpool, who are based near his hometown in Wirral.[4] Dean made it to the Millennium Stadium eight days later, though, when he refereed the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Watford.
Perhaps Dean's highest refereeing honour came on 17 May 2008 when he took charge of that year's FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City, with Trevor Massey and Martin Yerby as his assistants and Chris Foy as the fourth official.[2] Dean issued three cautions during the match at Wembley Stadium, which was won 1-0 by Portsmouth.
On 5 April 2009 in a South Wales derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City, Dean suffered a cut to the forehead resulting from what appeared to be a coin thrown by a Cardiff supporter. He later awarded Cardiff a debatable penalty kick, which was converted to earn a draw for the home side.[5] Cardiff's chairman Peter Ridsdale condemned the attack and said that the supporter would be given a life-long ban if found guilty. A 24-year-old Pontypridd man was later convicted over the incident and given a three-year ban and £200 fine. No action was taken by the Football Association of Wales against Cardiff City.[6]
In 2010, Dean was appointed to officiate a fixture at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Chelsea on 3 April, a game which was dubbed a potential Premier League "title decider" in the build-up. Chelsea won the match 2-1.[7] Dean, along with his assistants Simon Beck and Stephen Child, were criticised in the media for turning down up to four penalty appeals, three for Manchester United and one for Chelsea. Didier Drogba scored Chelsea's second goal to give them a 2-0 lead, despite video replays appearing to show he was offside when the ball was played to him. Towards the end of the game, Dean allowed a Manchester United goal to stand when Federico Macheda appeared to bundle the ball over the goal-line with his hands. United manager Alex Ferguson was among those who criticised Dean's performance.[8] Ferguson said he was "worried" when Dean was appointed to the game after the official had been in the media spotlight over controversial decisions he made in a Burnley-Blackburn Rovers match the week before. Burnley manager Brian Laws described the assignment of Dean to the Old Trafford game as "mad".[9]
On 31 January 2011, Dean was appointed to referee the 2011 League Cup final between Arsenal and Birmingham City.[10] Birmingham won the match 2-1, with an 89th-minute winning goal by Obafemi Martins. The Blues had taken the lead through Nikola Žigić, before Robin van Persie equallised for Arsenal. Dean issued five yellow cards during the course of the final, and might have been required to interpret a significant event in just the second minute. An early Birmingham chance was created through Lee Bowyer, who appeared to be fouled by Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny in what would probably have been a penalty kick for Birmingham and a red card for the Gunners keeper. However, Bowyer was flagged offside by Dean's assistant (a decision which replays suggested was incorrect).[11]
Dean was the subject of debate over a decision he made in a Premier League fixture between Newcastle United and Chelsea on 3 December 2011. In the fourth minute of the match, he adjudged Chelsea centre-back David Luiz to have fouled Newcastle's Demba Ba when the striker was through on goal. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew later said he "expected" Luiz to be sent off for committing a professional foul, but "couldn't fathom" why Dean opted to show Luiz only a yellow card.[12] Pardew subsequently said that Dean had admitted to him that the failure to send-off Luiz was "a mistake". Chelsea went on to win the game 3-0.[13]
Dean first international match came in 2004 when he was appointed to a friendly between the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland at the Amsterdam Arena. The away side won 1–0 thanks to a Robbie Keane goal.[14]
On 30 September 2010, Dean refereed a Europa League group stage match between Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla. Early in the second half he showed a second yellow card to Dortmund player Marcel Schmelzer for an alleged dive. The decision was criticised by Dortmund management and supporters who claimed Schmelzer had not attempted to draw a foul, but merely lost his footing while trying to evade his opponent's tackle; Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp called Dean's interpretation of the incident "absolutely crazy".[15] Later, Dean elected not to issue a second yellow card to Sevilla defender Fernando Navarro for what appeared a tactical foul on Jakub Błaszczykowski.
Dean has also officiated European Championship qualifying matches. His first appointment was to the Euro 2008 group F qualifier between Iceland and Latvia on 13 October 2007. The game in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík ended with a 4-2 win for the visitors. Dean's next European Championship match was on 12 October 2010 when he oversaw a group A qualifier for Euro 2012 between Belgium and Austria in Brussels. The away team appeared to have secured a 3-2 victory but two Belgium goals on 87 and 89 minutes overturned that scoreline, only for ten-man Austria to score an injury-time equaliser to earn a 4-4 draw.
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997/98 | 30 | 83 | 2.77 | 5 | 0.17 |
| 1998/99 | 38 | 96 | 2.53 | 4 | 0.11 |
| 1999/00 | 39 | 90 | 2.31 | 10 | 0.26 |
| 2000/01 | 37 | 106 | 2.86 | 4 | 0.11 |
| 2001/02 | 35 | 108 | 3.09 | 8 | 0.23 |
| 2002/03 | 36 | 155 | 4.31 | 9 | 0.25 |
| 2003/04 | 38 | 98 | 2.58 | 9 | 0.24 |
| 2004/05 | 24 | 66 | 2.75 | 7 | 0.29 |
| 2005/06 | 41 | 134 | 3.27 | 10 | 0.24 |
| 2006/07 | 43 | 173 | 4.02 | 16 | 0.37 |
| 2007/08 | 45 | 154 | 3.42 | 10 | 0.22 |
| 2008/09 | 44 | 156 | 3.55 | 12 | 0.27 |
| 2009/10 | 43 | 148 | 3.44 | 7 | 0.16 |
| 2010/11 | 43 | 147 | 3.42 | 7 | 0.16 |
| 2011/12 |
Statistics are for all competitions, including domestic, European and international. No records are available prior to 1997/98.[16]
| Preceded by Steve Bennett |
FA Community Shield 2004 |
Succeeded by Howard Webb |
| Preceded by Uriah Rennie |
FA Trophy Final 2004 |
Succeeded by Phil Dowd |
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