Mike Dean (referee)

Michael Dean (born 2 June 1968) is an English professional football referee who officiates primarily in the Premier League. He is based in Heswall, Wirral, and is a member of the Cheshire County Football Association.

Since his appointment as a Select Group referee in 2000, Dean has officiated a number of notable matches, including the FA Community Shield and the finals of the FA Cup, Football League Cup and FA Trophy.

Early career

Dean began refereeing in 1985. He progressed to officiate in the Northern Premier League as a referee, becoming a Football League assistant referee in 1995 and being promoted to the full referees' list in 1997.

Professional career

Dean was appointed to the Select Group of referees for the Premier League in 2000, being subsequently promoted to the FIFA international referees' list in 2003. Also in 2003, he was fourth official to Graham Barber at the FA Cup final held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, where Arsenal beat Southampton 1–0.

Dean took control of the 2004 FA Community Shield match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium, a game which Arsenal won 3–1. He also refereed the FA Trophy final of that year.

Dean was originally appointed to referee the 2006 FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium on 13 May 2006 but the Football Association later replaced him with Alan Wiley after concerns were raised about Dean's ability to be impartial towards Liverpool, who are based near his hometown in Wirral. Dean made it to the Millennium Stadium eight days later though, when he refereed the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Watford.

Dean's highest refereeing honour came on 17 May 2008 when he took charge of that year's FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City, with Trevor Massey and Martin Yerby as his assistants and Chris Foy as the fourth official. Dean issued three cautions during the match at Wembley Stadium, which was won 1–0 by Portsmouth.

Dean receives treatment after being struck by a coin during a South Wales derby in 2009.

On 5 April 2009 in a South Wales derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City, Dean suffered a cut to the forehead resulting from what appeared to be a coin thrown by a Cardiff supporter. He later awarded Cardiff a penalty kick, which was converted to earn a draw for the home side. Cardiff's chairman Peter Ridsdale condemned the attack and said that the supporter would be given a lifelong ban if found guilty. A 24-year-old man was later convicted over the incident and given a three-year ban and £200 fine. No action was taken by the Football Association of Wales against Cardiff City.

In April 2010 Dean was appointed to officiate a fixture at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Chelsea.

On 31 January 2011, Dean was appointed to referee the 2011 League Cup final between Arsenal and Birmingham City. Birmingham won the match 2–1, with an 89th-minute winning goal by Obafemi Martins. The Blues had taken the lead through Nikola Žigić, before Robin van Persie equallised for Arsenal. Dean issued five yellow cards during the course of the final.

In September 2015, Arsenal supporters launched a petition to prevent Dean from refereeing their team following a Premier League fixture against Chelsea. The Football Association later rescinded a red card Dean issued to Arsenal defender Gabriel during the incident, and handed Chelsea striker Diego Costa a retrospective three-match suspension for violent conduct.

European and international matches

Dean first international match came in 2004 when he was appointed to a friendly between the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland at the Amsterdam Arena. The away side won 1–0 thanks to a Robbie Keane goal.

On 30 September 2010, Dean refereed a Europa League group stage match between Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla. Early in the second half he showed a second yellow card to Dortmund player Marcel Schmelzer for diving.

Dean has also officiated European Championship qualifying matches. His first appointment was to the Euro 2008 group F qualifier between Iceland and Latvia on 13 October 2007. The game in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík ended with a 4–2 win for the visitors. Dean's next European Championship match was on 12 October 2010 when he oversaw a group A qualifier for Euro 2012 between Belgium and Austria in Brussels. The away team appeared to have secured a 3–2 victory but two Belgium goals on 87 and 89 minutes overturned that scoreline, only for ten-man Austria to score an injury-time equaliser to earn a 4–4 draw.

Dean stepped down from the FIFA international list at the end of 2013 at the mandatory retirement age of 45.

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	45	154	3.42	10	0.22
2008/09	44	156	3.55	12	0.27
2009/10	43	148	3.44	7	0.16
2010/11	43	147	3.42	7	0.16
2011/12	43	146	3.40	5	0.12
2012/13	40	143	3.58	4	0.10
2013/14	38	131	3.45	7	0.18
2014/15	38	158	4.16	8	0.21

Statistics are for all competitions. No records are available prior to 1997/98.