My mate Mike’s a true football fan

I SPENT 10 years at training camps rooming with Mike Dean so I have an unfair advantage over many people — I know him better than most. And apart from himself, I’m probably his biggest critic! Listen, Mike Dean is a wonderful referee and a wonderful bloke. He’s a husband, a father and grandfather who adores his family and he absolutely adores his football. Who can forget those pictures of Mike going wild among Tranmere Rovers fans celebrating their League Two play-off victories over Forest Green and Newport a couple of years back? That’s Mike, he’s a football fanatic and he doesn’t mind who knows it and who sees it.

Mike has been a football fan as long as I’ve known him and that explains why you get that passion whenever he referees. You can tell he just loves what he does. Why else would he have done it for so long?

Players respect him for his experience and I rate him very highly for the simple reason of that longevity. He has refereed well over 500 matches, has been refereeing in the Premier League for 20 years, has refereed big European games, big international games and he keeps coming back for more. And he keeps coming back fitter and better.

Yes, he’s shown a lot of cards — but he’s refereed an awful lot of matches.

He’s a top referee, among the very best we’ve ever had, there’s no doubt about that in my mind.