Mike Dean makes astonishing refereeing confession: Premier League saw such antics!

Former English Premier League referee Mike Dean has admitted that he deliberately carried out unusual and interesting challenges during matches at times throughout his career.

TodayPress TV reports that he spoke about this on Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party podcast.

The experienced former referee said that during matches he sometimes tried to go as long as possible without blowing his whistle or officiate a game without leaving the centre circle:

“We used to do these things for a laugh. Among ourselves, we would say, ‘Let’s see how long we can go without blowing the whistle.’ I did this several times in the Premier League. There were times when I went 20–25 minutes without blowing the whistle: ‘Play, play, play.’

“Sometimes I would try to stay in the centre circle until I absolutely had to leave. My assistants would say, ‘You won’t be able to do it,’ and I would reply, ‘I’ll give it a go.’ In one match, I managed to officiate for about 15 minutes without leaving the centre circle.”

Dean stressed that such incidents took place before the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system was introduced in the Premier League.

It should be noted that Mike Dean ended his career as a referee at the end of the 2021/2022 season and stopped working as a VAR referee in 2023. He officiated more than 500 matches in the English top flight.

Namiq HUN