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Mike Dean, the former Premier League referee, said he used to play secret games while officiating matches
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Football — Paul MacInnes
The former Premier League referee Mike Dean claims he used to take part in secret challenges while officiating, including trying to stay in the centre circle for as long as possible, as he confessed to “just joking about” during matches. The remarks, made by one of the most well-known officials in the English game, have been met with bemusement by refereeing officials who say there is no evidence of any such behaviour having ever taken place.
Dean was a member of the select group of referees for more than two decades before he retired in 2022 and a brief spell as a video assistant referee followed. In an interview on Jamie Vardy’s podcast this week, Dean shared anecdotes from his time as a top-flight official in the pre-VAR era. “We used to say, ‘We’ll kick off now. Right, see how long we can go without blowing a whistle,’” he said. “I’ve done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR obviously – [I] went 20, 25 minutes without blowing a whistle.
Related: Football Daily | Mike Dean appears to blow the whistle on himself over in-match game claims
“I used to do another thing. I used to stand in the centre circle – see how long I could stay in the centre circle before I had to leave. That was just me joking about. I got about 15 minutes once.”
Officials within the refereeing organisation, Pro Ref, are understood to be puzzled by the claims, with the suggestion that a referee could stay in the centre circle for 15 minutes without someone noticing, for example, seen as highly improbable.
This is not the first time that Dean has courted controversy in a post-retirement interview. Dean was stood down from his role as a VAR in 2023 after failing to intervene over an error in a match between Tottenham and Chelsea, refereed by Anthony Taylor. Describing Taylor as a “mate”, Dean told Simon Jordan’s podcast that he had chosen not to ask Taylor to review his decision on a VAR monitor because he didn’t want him to have “ any more grief than he already had ”.
Dean earned notoriety during his time as a referee for his flamboyant mannerisms and apparent eye for the camera – as captured in the terrace chant “Mike Dean, it’s all about you”. But he was also held to be one of the best officials in the top flight, taking charge of 561 matches – and issuing a record 114 red cards – over the course of his 22-year career.
Dean was a member of the select group of referees for more than two decades before he retired in 2022 and a brief spell as a video assistant referee followed. In an interview on Jamie Vardy’s podcast this week, Dean shared anecdotes from his time as a top-flight official in the pre-VAR era. “We used to say, ‘We’ll kick off now. Right, see how long we can go without blowing a whistle,’” he said. “I’ve done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR obviously – [I] went 20, 25 minutes without blowing a whistle.
This report is published with credit to The Guardian. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on The Guardian →
Source: The Guardian · Paul MacInnes. Published 3 Sept 2026, 03:22 pm.
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