 Clattenburg in 2016 | |||
| Born | (1975-03-13)13 March 1975 (age 50) Consett, England | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1993–1994 | Northern League | Assistant referee | |
| 1994–1999 | Northern League | Referee | |
| 1999–2000 | Football Conference | Referee | |
| 1999–2000 | The Football League | Assistant referee | |
| 2000–2004 | The Football League | Referee | |
| 2004–2017 | Premier League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2006–2017 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975)[1] is an English former professionalfootballreferee.
Clattenburg is a former member of thePremier League and theDurham County Football Association and also a formerFIFA referee. He has refereed a number of notable matches, including the2016 UEFA Champions League final and theEuro 2016 Final. Clattenburg is considered one of the most highly-rated European referees of his generation.[2]
Clattenburg is the lead referee in the BBC 2024 revival of TV showGladiators.[3]
Born inConsett,County Durham,[4] Clattenburg took up refereeing in 1990 as part ofThe Duke of Edinburgh's Award[5] and became anassistant referee in theNorthern League at the age of 18, later refereeing in that league. He became both aFootball Conference referee and a Football League assistant referee in the year 1999,[5] but was rapidly promoted to the National List of Football League referees in the year 2000.[1] He had served only one year as an assistant – a record shared withSteve Baines – but his promise led to quicker promotion. His debut Football League match (at the age of just 25 – a one-time post-War record) was betweenChesterfield andYork City on 12 August 2000, with Chesterfield winning 4–1.[6] Clattenburg was thenfourth official for the2001–02Division Three play-off final[1] and the2002–03FA Trophy final.[7]
In the 2002–03 season, Clattenburg was chosen to referee two play-off semi-finals – theDivision One first-leg 1–1 draw betweenNottingham Forest andSheffield United at theCity Ground on 10 May 2003,[8] and theDivision Two second-leg home win byQueens Park Rangers overOldham atLoftus Road on 14 May 2003, which put Rangers through to the final.[9]
On 15 May 2004, he refereed the Division One play-off semi-final first leg betweenIpswich andWest Ham atPortman Road, which was won 1–0 by the home side.[10] He followed this with his appointment atCardiff'sMillennium Stadium on 31 May 2004 for the Division Three play-off final contested byMansfield andHuddersfield, which required apenalty shoot-out after the match finished 0–0 afterextra time. Huddersfield won the shoot-out 4–1.[11] Also in 2004, he became aSelect Group referee in the Premier League,[1] and his debut match at this level was the 3–1 away win byEverton againstCrystal Palace on 21 August of the same year.
Clattenburg became a FIFA referee in 2006, at the age of 30, two years after turning professional.[12] He refereedAlan Shearer's testimonial match on 11 May 2006; he is aNewcastle United fan,[13] and therefore does not referee competitive games involving Newcastle.[4] On 9 September 2006, he took charge of a qualifying match for the2007 UEFA Under-17s Championship at theGradski Stadium inSkopje betweenMacedonia andDenmark; the away side winning 3–0.[14]
Clattenburg was appointed to control both legs of the2006–07FA Youth Cup final, contested byLiverpool andManchester United, firstly atAnfield on 16 April 2007 which United won 2–1, and then atOld Trafford on 26 April 2007 which Liverpool won 1–0. With the aggregate scores tied, Liverpool won the subsequent penalty shoot-out 4–3 after a goalless 30 minutes of extra time.[15][16]
On 6 August 2008 he refereed his firstUEFA Champions League match, a 5–0 away win forFenerbahçe atMTK Budapest. Clattenburg's next Champions League appointment was not until 3 November 2010 when he took charge ofAuxerre's 2–1 win over visitorsAjax.
In the summer of 2008, Clattenburg was appointed to referee that year'sFA Community Shield, with Dave Richardson and Ian Gosling assisting andAndre Marriner acting as fourth official.[17] However, Clattenburg was later suspended from refereeing, pending an investigation into alleged debts incurred by companies to which he was connected.[18] The Shield match betweenPortsmouth and Manchester United took place at Wembley Stadium withPeter Walton as the replacement referee.[19]
Following the investigation into his personal life and business debts, the referees' governing body dismissed Clattenburg, citing a breach of contract. He denied all the allegations and appealed against the decision. On 18 February 2009 theProfessional Game Match Officials Board reinstated Clattenburg as a Select Group referee. However, he had to serve an eight-month suspension, starting from his original suspension date of 6 August 2008. Upon his return from suspension on the last day of the Premier League season, Clattenburg refereed a fixture betweenManchester City andBolton Wanderers — his only domestic appointment of that season.
Clattenburg was involved in aFIFA World Cup as a fourth official for a2010 tournament UEFA qualifying group 4 match betweenAzerbaijan andRussia in Baku on 14 October 2009.[20]
He has officiated qualifying games forEuro Championships. In September 2010 he oversaw a 4–4 draw betweenPortugal andCyprus, a qualifier forEuro 2012. His first Euro Championship match however was a 4–0 home win forDenmark overLiechtenstein, agroup F qualifier forEuro 2008.
Clattenburg was appointed to referee the2012 Football League Cup Final betweenLiverpool andCardiff City at Wembley Stadium on 26 February 2012. Liverpool won apenalty shoot-out 3–2 after extra-time finished 2–2. He booked three players during the game and was rarely required to interpret any contentious moments.[21]
He officiated atUEFA Euro 2012 as anadditional assistant referee in a team led byHoward Webb.[22] Clattenburg was also selected as one of the referees for themen's football tournament of the2012 Olympic Games.[23] He officiated a group stage match betweenEgypt andNew Zealand at Old Trafford, a quarter-final betweenSenegal andMexico and the gold medal match betweenBrazil and Mexico, both at Wembley Stadium.
Clattenburg refereed aChampions League quarter-final first leg on 2 April 2013 betweenBayern Munich andJuventus after which former Bayern playerPaul Breitner praised the official for letting the game flow. Bayern won the leg 2–0.[24]
On 28 October 2012,Chelsea made a formal complaint tothe Football Association against Clattenburg about his alleged use of "inappropriate language" towardsMikel John Obi during that day's match againstManchester United.[25] The FA cleared Clattenburg of wrongdoing nine days later and charged Mikel with using "threatening and/or abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour" towards Clattenberg after the match.[26] He returned to duty as the fourth official for a fixture betweenTottenham Hotspur andWest Ham United on 25 November and refereedNorwich City's Premier League game atSouthampton for his full return to the middle on 28 November 2012.[27] He was given a standing ovation by sections of both sets of fans at the game, which finished 1–1, and the managers of both clubs said afterward that they were "pleased to see him back".[28]
Clattenburg refereed the2013 FA Community Shield betweenWigan Athletic and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on 11 August 2013. United won the match 2–0.[29]
In October 2014 Clattenburg was stood down for one weekend following aCrystal Palace game for phoning managerNeil Warnock and for travelling from the fixture alone (Premier League rules state all match officials must not be involved in any conversation with a manager after a game and require all officials to travel to and from a match together).[30] Clattenburg’s reasoning was that of attending anEd Sheeran gig later in the day.
Clattenburg refereed the2016 FA Cup Final, contested byCrystal Palace andManchester United. The match went to extra-time and Manchester United won by a scoreline of 2–1.
Clattenburg was selected as the referee of the2016 UEFA Champions League Final betweenReal Madrid andAtlético Madrid in Milan on 28 May.[31] Real Madrid went on to win the match 5–3 after extra time and penalties.[32]
Clattenburg officiated at several matches atUEFA Euro 2016. Late in a group match between theCzech Republic andCroatia inSaint-Étienne, Croatian hooligans threw flares onto the pitch and Clattenburg suspended the match for several minutes, moving the players away from the burning flares to avoid injury.[33][34][35][36]
Clattenburg went on to referee theUEFA Euro 2016 Final betweenPortugal andFrance on 10 July,[37] which Portugal went on to win 1–0 after extra time.
On 16 February 2017, thePGMOL announced that Clattenburg had left his position as a Premier League referee for a role with theSaudi Arabian Football Federation,[38] replacingHoward Webb as the country's Head of Refereeing.[39]
On 23 February 2019, it was announced that Clattenburg had been hired byCFA to become one of the professional referees in China.[40]
In 2017, Clattenburg was announced as an Ambassador forLeisure Leagues agreeing to become their Head Referee[41] as part of this, he was a guest of honour at the formation of theInternational Socca Federation in Birmingham UK, refereeing the final of the 6 a side World Cup in 2019 as Germany beat Poland.[42]
He was also there in 2019, as the World Cup went to Crete,[43] refereeing with fellow former Premier League refereeBobby Madley.[44]
On 5 August 2022, he was appointed as president of the Egyptian Referees Committee in order to improve the performances of local referees.[45] On 24 January 2023, he resigned from his position and left Egypt, due to threats from fans afterZamalek SC presidentMortada Mansour alleged that he was in a gay relationship, in addition to unpaid £32,000-a-month salary for the last two months.[46]
In February 2024, Clattenburg was appointed byNottingham Forest as the club's referee analyst.[47] He left the role on 3 May 2024.[48]
Notable matches refereed by Clattenburg include:
Clattenburg refereed 297Premier League matches, 37 in theFA Cup, 28 in theChampions League, 21 in theEFL Cup, 4 inEuropean Championships, and 3 at theOlympics.[49]
| Season | Games | Total | per game | Total | per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 24 | 67 | 2.79 | 4 | 0.17 |
| 2001–02 | 33 | 103 | 3.12 | 6 | 0.18 |
| 2002–03 | 35 | 135 | 3.86 | 8 | 0.23 |
| 2003–04 | 34 | 104 | 3.06 | 2 | 0.06 |
| 2004–05 | 28 | 83 | 2.96 | 5 | 0.18 |
| 2005–06 | 24 | 81 | 3.38 | 4 | 0.17 |
| 2006–07 | 42 | 166 | 3.95 | 3 | 0.07 |
| 2007–08 | 39 | 124 | 3.18 | 10 | 0.26 |
| 2008–09 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2009–10 | 42 | 105 | 2.50 | 5 | 0.12 |
| 2010–11 | 40 | 123 | 3.08 | 7 | 0.18 |
| 2011–12 | 36 | 115 | 3.19 | 8 | 0.22 |
| 2012–13 | 36 | 104 | 2.89 | 6 | 0.17 |
| 2013–14 | 42 | 145 | 3.45 | 6 | 0.13 |
| 2014–15 | 47 | 172 | 3.66 | 5 | 0.11 |
| 2015–16 | 46 | 162 | 3.52 | 7 | 0.15 |
| 2016–17 | 30 | 105 | 3.5 | 4 | 0.13 |
| Total | 576 | 1894 | 3.29 | 90 | 0.16 |
| Source:Soccerbase | |||||
Statistics are for all competitions, including domestic, European and international. No records are available prior to 2000–01.
Clattenburg joined theESPN commentary team forEuro 2020 as their officiating andVAR expert.[50][51] He expanded his role with ESPN to also workMLS andUSMNT games.
Clattenburg refereed the 2022, 2023, and 2025Sidemen Charity Matches and severalSoccer Aid matches for charity.
Clattenburg is also the lead referee in the BBC 2024 revival of TV showGladiators.[3]
Clattenburg went toCramlington Community High School and was chosen to play football for them, as well as South Northumberland.[5] He is divorced from his wife with whom he lived inChester-le-Street; they had one son during their marriage.[52]
| Date | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2021 | Whistle Blower[53] | Headline Publishing Group | 978-1-4722-8203-3 |
Sporting positions / Mark Clattenburg | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | 2012 FIFA Men's Olympic Football Tournament Final Referee | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 2014 UEFA Super Cup Referee | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 2016 UEFA Champions League Final Referee | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | UEFA Euro 2016 final Referee | Succeeded by |
Men's winners
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
