"God answers my prayers everywhere except on the golf-course."
Whistle blower
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Mark Clattenburg, Headline, 2021 ISBN 978147228203 3
Mark Clattenburg was one of the top football referees of his era, officiating in the Premier League, Champions League Final, World Cup, European Championship etc before taking the Saudi money and running. His autobiography gives interesting insights into how referees operate in big games.
His life was never straight forward. He always seemed to be in conflict with someone, be it David Ellerary, PGMOL etc. Clattenburg often seemed to believe that everyone had it in for him.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is Clattenburg’s assessment of managers, based on his interaction with them. Of Jose Mourinho, for example, he says: “by the time he returned to Chelsea in 2013, he had changed, and drastically so. This Mourinho was not a nice guy. It was as if he thought the world was against him. He was bitter, always unhappy and didn’t seem to enjoy it any more. He had lost his good humour and has no fun to be around”.
Clattenburg’s approach to refereeing emerges from the book, including in the following insight: “too many referees miss a trick by not engaging with players – be that before, during or after a game. I found that interaction imperative in being able to control them and, in turn, the match. Just like with managers, by establishing a level of trust you were buying a little goodwill and understanding from those on the pitch”.
He admIts to something that many of us have suspected! He describes a situation where he was unsighted and got a big decision – against Atletico Madrid - wrong, saying “I was now waiting for a decision in Atletico’s favour to get some balance back into the game”.
One thing which I did not enjoy was the continuous and gratuitous use of the F word.