Mike Dean

Personal information
Full name	Michael Leslie Dean
Date of birth	2 June 1968 (1968-06-02) (age 41)
Place of birth	Wirral, Merseyside, England
Domestic
Years	League	Role
? –1997 1995–1997 1997–2000 2000–	Northern Premier League Football League Football League Premier League	Referee Asst. referee Referee Referee
International
Years	League	Role
2003–	FIFA listed	Referee

Michael Leslie Dean (born 2 June 1968^[1]) is an English football referee in the FA Premier League based in Heswall, Wirral.

[edit] Career

Dean began refereeing in 1985. He eventually officiated in the Northern Premier League as a referee,^[2] becoming a Football League assistant referee in 1995, and progressing to the full referees' list in 1997. He was appointed to the Select Group of referees for the Premier League in 2000, being subsequently promoted to the FIFA list in 2003. Also in 2003, he was fourth official to Graham Barber at the FA Cup Final held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 13 May 2003, when Arsenal beat Southampton 1–0.^[1]

In 2004, he was appointed to the International Friendly between Holland and Republic of Ireland at the Amsterdam Arena. The away side won 1–0 thanks to a Robbie Keane goal.^[3]

In the same year, he took control of the FA Community Shield match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium, a game which saw the London side win 3–1.^[4] He had also refereed the FA Trophy Final of that year.^[1]

He was originally appointed to referee the 2006 FA Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium on 13 May 2006, but the Football Association took the unusual step of replacing him with Alan Wiley after concerns were raised about his ability to be impartial towards Liverpool, who are based near Dean's home town in the Wirral.^[5]

He made it to the Millennium Stadium eight days later though, when he refereed the Championship play-off final between Leeds and Watford on 21 May 2006, Leeds suffering a heavy 3–0 defeat in failing to clinch promotion to the Premiership.^[6]

[edit] Involvement with betting syndicate

On 26 February 2005, Dean was suspended due to his involvement with a horse racing betting company, in which he appeared to be violating his refereeing contract by using his football status to help promote the betting company. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited, which supplies Premiership referees, investigated Dean's links with Arbitros Racing and ruled that he should not officiate until the matter had been resolved to the board's satisfaction.^[7] A statement was later made that Mike Dean had been suspended until 31 May 2005 by the PGMOL, for breaching the terms of his employment contract, which require match officials to seek permission from them for any business ventures or the use of their status as a PGMOL official for promotional purposes. He was also required to cease his involvement with this venture and any similar activities.^[8][9]

[edit] FA Cup Final 2008

Dean refereed the 2008 FA Cup Final at Wembley between Portsmouth and Cardiff City on 17 May 2008, with Trevor Massey and Martin Yerby as his assistant referees and Chris Foy as fourth official.^[2]

[edit] Coin-throwing incident

Dean receives treatment after being struck by a coin during the South Wales derby.

On Sunday 5 April 2009, in a Football League Championship match between Cardiff City and fierce rivals Swansea City, Dean was struck on the forehead by what appeared to be a coin and suffered a cut to the head. South Wales Police have arrested a supporter in connection with the incident after looking at CCTV footage. Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale condemned the attack and announced that the supporter would be given a life-long ban if found guilty. ^[10]

[edit] Career statistics

Season	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
1997–98	30	83	2.77	5	0.17
1998–99	38	96	2.53	4	0.11
1999–00	39	90	2.31	10	0.26
2000–01	37	106	2.86	4	0.11
2001–02	35	108	3.09	8	0.23
2002–03	36	155	4.31	9	0.25
2003–04	38	98	2.58	9	0.24
2004–05	24	66	2.75	7	0.29
2005–06	41	134	3.27	10	0.24
2006–07	43	173	4.02	16	0.37
2007–08	40	140	3.50	10	0.25
2008–09	44	156	3.55	12	0.27
2009–10	14	54	3.86	2	0.14

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Football Referees

[edit] External links

• Mike Dean Profile at Refworld.com
• Mike Dean Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com
• Refs Corner: Mike Dean at the Football Association
• Profile on RateTheRef.net