Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenberg has admitted to the “worst mistake” of his career, 18 years after it happened, was during a Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton.
Clattenberg, who officiated in the Premier League from his debut in 2004–17 when he left for a lucrative role in Saudi Arabia, has called it the only game he wishes he could “referee again.”
Although his top-flight debut came in the early weeks of 2004–05, Clattenberg didn’t become a full-time referee until 2006. And when he was given a Merseyside derby in October the following year, still remembered for a blatant penalty not awarded to the Toffees when Liverpool were leading 2–1, he believes, in hindsight, that he wasn’t ready.
“I had already been given Manchester [derby], and the north London derby the previous week. I was appointed to referee Everton-Liverpool at Goodison [Park]. I’m not using this as an excuse, but I had never experienced that type of derby before,” Clattenberg told the Daily Mail’s Whistleblowers podcast.
“It was ferocious. This was a working-class derby, and I got it completely wrong,” he conceded.
“I sent off two Everton players. The Everton fans thought I changed my mind because of Steven Gerrard. He walked past the camera when I was changing from a yellow to a red card... but it was always a red card for Tony Hibbert. It looked like Gerrard said something to me, and I had changed my mind. That obviously never happened. I also sent off Phil Neville for a handball on the line.
“The worst mistake I made was near the end of the game. I don’t know what was going on in my mind. Jamie Carragher pulled down Joleon Lescott for an easy penalty. If I had given it, Everton had the chance to equalise. In the eyes of Everton, I had made three big errors—all the big decisions seemed to go in Liverpool’s favour.”
Clattenberg, now enjoying primetime fame post-football as the head ‘referee’ on the BBC’s revival of cult 1990s gameshow Gladiators, said he “lost control” of the derby and ultimately received death threats afterwards, as well as being kept off Everton games for the next six years until 2013.
“I lost my ability to make decisions,” he said. “People only remember that one moment—football fans never forgive you. It doesn’t matter how many good decisions you go on to make.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘I Got It Completely Wrong’—Referee Breaks 18-Year Silence on Infamous Merseyside Derby.