Mark Clattenburg named five most annoying players to ref - including Roy Keane
Mark Clattenburg exchanged words with plenty of high-profile stars during his illustrious refereeing career - and revealed the five he found most annoying to officiate.
Widely regarded as one of the best European referees of his generation, Clattenburg took charge of the 2016 European Championship, Champions League and FA Cup finals. But his career was not without its challenges and a number of players tested his mettle on numerous occasions, earning themselves reputations for the wrong reasons among referees.
Back in 2020, Clattenburg was asked to pick out the five most annoying players he officiated a couple of years ago and duly obliged, including one player who he claims squeezed his private parts in the tunnel and one who he labelled as a "wind-up merchant".
Craig Bellamy
The first player on the list was former Newcastle United, Manchester City and Liverpool forward Craig Bellamy.
"I knew my relationship with him was on sticky ground when he squeezed my balls in the tunnel at the Etihad, and I don't mean my match-balls," Clattenburg told the Daily Mail.
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Clattenburg recalled one incident in 2009 when he unfairly sent off Bellamy for diving but insists that he was an unwelcome challenge to referee.
"But Bellamy was a nightmare to referee and most of us felt the same. He would snarl at you and throw his arms around, constantly challenging you. His language was awful, just plain rude."
Craig Bellamy (left) argues with Mark Clattenburg during his second stint with Liverpool (Getty Images)Roy Keane
The next player Clattenburg chose was Roy Keane, whom he acknowledged is an entirely different man off the pitch compared to on it.
Clattenburg said: "I have to start by saying that I worked with Roy for ITV during the World Cup in 2018 and he was a gentleman and nice to be around, proof that players can be very different off the pitch from on it."
However, he acknowledged that Keane could try and bully referees and added: "You just couldn't trust Roy either. You never knew if he was going to blow up or do something nasty, like the tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland. That was a disgrace, it was pre-meditated.
"He always came across as stone-cold and wanted to be the hard man. That causes problems for referees because the ego kicks in and it becomes a fight, like it did between him and Patrick Vieira."
Keane's tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland was "disgraceful", according to ClattenburgJens Lehmann
The former Arsenal goalkeeper was next on the list due to his constant whinging and "antics".
Clattenburg continued: "He was just so irritable and never stopped, one of those miserable blokes who would whinge about everything and everyone.
"If the ball was round, he would whinge. If the ball was white, he would whinge. You would think, 'Just give it a rest'."
He added: "But he would do snidey, little things himself that made it difficult and I didn't enjoy refereeing him at all. He was erratic and his antics were not easy to deal with."
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Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was always in the thick of the actionPepe
Clattenburg's next selection came from his time refereeing in the Champions League, with Portuguese defender Pepe notorious for his on-pitch antics.
In the 2016 Champions League final, Pepe tried to get an Atletico Madrid player sent off, but Clattenburg was alert to his attempts.
"He was another player you just couldn't trust," he said. "A game could be easy and straightforward then he would do something sly."
Clattenburg added: "But he was a wind-up merchant and not fun to referee one bit, you had to be on your guard constantly."
Clattenburg was alert to Pepe's antics in the 2016 Champions League final (Clive Rose)John Obi Mikel
Returning to the Premier League, Clattenburg selected former Chelsea midfielder Mikel to complete his list.
Explaining his decision, Clattenburg said: "I have picked Mikel because of the incident during a Chelsea v Manchester United match in 2012 when he accused me of making a racist comment, which was not right and I was later cleared by the FA.
"He has never apologised and that is disappointing because it could have ruined my life. I fell out of love with refereeing for a while after that but couldn't quit because I had a family to support and no other career to pursue.
"It all left a bad feeling that still lingers today. Mikel only heard the allegation from his team-mate Ramires, who did not speak English. Other Chelsea players have since apologised but nothing from Mikel."
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