Mike Dean (referee)

Mike Dean

Dean in 2009
Full name	Michael Leslie Dean
Born	(1968-06-02) 2 June 1968 Wirral, England
Domestic
Years	League	Role
?–1997	Northern Premier League	Referee
1995–1997	The Football League	Assistant referee
1997–2000	The Football League	Referee
2000–	Premier League	Referee
International
Years	League	Role
2003–2013	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, and is a member of the Cheshire County Football Association.

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 Cup, Football League Cup and FA Trophy.

Career

Early career and promotions

Dean began refereeing in 1985. He progressed to officiate in the Northern Premier League as a referee,^[2] becoming a Football League assistant referee in 1995 and being promoted 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 international referees' 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]

Community Shield and the Cup final

Dean took control of the 2004 FA Community Shield match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium, a game which the London side won 3–1.^[3] He 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.

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.

Coin-throwing incident

Dean receives treatment after being struck by a coin during a South Wales derby in 2009.

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 lifelong ban if found guilty. A 24-year-old 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]

Old Trafford controversy

In April 2010, Dean was appointed to officiate a fixture at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Chelsea, 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]

League Cup final and recent matches

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]

Europe and international

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.

Dean stepped down from the FIFA international list at the end of the 2012–13 season at the mandatory retirement age of 45.

Statistics

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	43	146	3.40	5	0.12
2012/13	40	143	3.58	4	0.10

Statistics are for all competitions. No records are available prior to 1997/98.^[16]

See also

• List of football referees

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mike Dean.

• Mike Dean Profile at Refworld.com
• Mike Dean Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com
• Refs Corner: Mike Dean at the Football Association
• Profile on RateTheRef.net