Retired Premier League referee Mike Dean says he used to play games during matches in order to amuse himself.
The 58-year-old Dean made the admission on the latest edition of the Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party podcast hosted by the former England striker.
“We used to say, ‘We’ll kick off now. Right, see how long we can go without blowing a whistle’,” Dean told Vardy. “I’ve done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR obviously, [and] went 20, 25 minutes without blowing a whistle. 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.”
Citing refereeing sources, BBC Sport reports there is no evidence to support Dean’s claims.
A native of Wirral, England, Dean began his professional career in the Football League as an assistant in 1995. He worked his way up to the Prem in 2000 where he would stay until retiring after the 2022 season. In 2019, Dean became the first EPL referee to issue 100 red cards. Dean would stay on as a VAR official for one season following his on-field retirement.
