Mark Clattenburg Names The Five Most Annoying Players He Officiated In Football

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has revealed Roy Keane and Pepe ranked amongst the most annoying players that he officiated in football.

The 45-year-old officiated important matches both at club and international level, which included the Euro and Champions League finals in 2016.

And now Clattenburg has shared the five players he had a tough time with in his piece for the Daily Mail.

While Clattenburg praised his experience with Keane off the pitch, the English referee explained exactly why the Manchester United legend was a nightmare to deal with.

According to Clattenburg, Keane always "came across as stone-cold and wanted to be the hard man."

The referee said the aforementioned caused "problems for referees because the ego kicks in" and could lead to fights, pointing to Keane's famous rivalry with Patrick Vieira.

Former Real Madrid star Pepe also made the list as Clattenburg said he was a player who 'couldn't be trusted.'

Clattenburg recalled his experience of refereeing the 2016 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

The 45-year-old admitted that he was wary of Pepe's antics on the pitch and called him out for play-acting twice during the match.

"Another referee might have fallen for it but I'd done my homework and, while you should try not to pre-judge, I knew exactly what his mentality was like and I needed that knowledge to handle him," Clattenburg wrote.

Clattenburg named John Obi Mikel as another pick after the former Chelsea midfielder accused him of racism during the United match in 2012.

The referee, who was cleared by the FA, claims that Mikel never apologised for the incident and said he "fell out of love with refereeing for a while."

Clattenburg's fourth pick included Jens Lehmann, who he called "one of those miserable blokes who would whinge about everything and everyone."

Craig Bellamy was the final footballer to make Clattenburg's list as the referee revealed he once "squeezed my balls in the tunnel at the Etihad."

Clattenburg added that the former Manchester City and Liverpool star "would snarl" and "throw his arms around, constantly challenging you."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football News, Football, Craig Bellamy, Mark Clattenburg, Premier League, Pepe, Roy Keane

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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