Clattenburg knows he’s the main man
THE mantra goes that a good referee should never be noticed but that rarely applies to Mark Clattenburg.
He’s an official who has never been keen to remain in the shadows, often to the annoyance of players and managers alike.
Indeed the 41-year-old isn’t even that popular with his bosses at our own Football Association.
It makes his presence in the middle for today’s Euro 2016 final all the more remarkable, when you consider Martin Atkinson was the FA’s choice for the tournament. But UEFA refereeing supremo Pierluigi Collina insisted that Clattenburg was selected too. Collina rates the former electrician from County Durham as the brightest light in the refereeing world, hence the reason he also awarded him the Champions League final in May.
That view is not universally shared, which may owe more to Clattenburg’s vanity. Advertising a hair weave he had
implanted to beat the early stages of premature baldness, he said: ‘It’s official. My hair is no longer a problem.’ Sadly, other matters were.
There were allegations of business debts, which he successfully appealed, and the flash cars, personalised number plates, a tattoo and a suspension after breaking the referees’ code by not travelling with fellow officials after a match so he could get off early to see Ed Sheeran in concert.
Peers say he is good, ‘naturally gifted, intuitive’ but knows it. He’s cocky, even too matey for some players’ tastes.
One bookmaker is offering odds on him following the final by making an appearance on Strictly Come Dancing or switching on the Christmas lights in Durham.
Now he completes a unique hat-trick — the FA Cup final, Champions League and the European Championship.
Clattenburg deserves grudging respect, as at least one Englishman has made the Euro 2016 final.