Mark Clattenburg has been speaking exclusively to Leeds United News, and fans might be surprised to hear which players he found difficult to referee. Or maybe not.
Mark Clattenburg is something of an icon in the world of refereeing, overseeing 576 games as a professional referee including a Champions League and Euros final in the same year, in 2016.
Nowadays he can be heard reminiscing on his career in professional football and he’s now been speaking to Leeds United News, about some of the most difficult former players he refereed in the past.
Once upon a time, even before Clattenburg was active, Leeds United were top Premier League team. Now they’re slumped in 2nd place of the Championship table after a 2-2 draw with Swansea City last time out, in a game that felt like a heavy defeat for Daniel Farke’s side.
Up next, the Whites take on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Farke has dropped Illan Meslier for the game and so fans will hope that change can spur Leeds United back to winning ways.
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Mark Clattenburg names Alan Smith and Robert Snodgrass as most difficult Leeds United players to referee
We asked Clattenburg about Leeds United and some of the former Whites stars he refereed. Specifically, we asked him which former Leeds United players he found difficult to referee and one of the answers may not be surprising at all: Alan Smith. The other in Robert Snodgrass might be a touch more surprising.
Clattenburg told Leeds United News: “I am having to go back well into my archives as I did not referee them many times. Robert Snodgrass and Alan Smith were difficult players to referee. Snodgrass was always argumentative and Smith could be nasty when going into tackles.”
During his refereeing career, Clattenburg officiated 11 Leeds United games with the Whites winning three, drawing three, and losing five under his watch, with Clattenburg giving out 15 yellow cards and one red card in those games.
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The first and last Leeds United games that Mark Clattenburg refereed
Of those 11 Leeds United games that Clattenburg oversaw, the very first came way back in September 2003, in a League Cup game between Leeds United and Swindon Town which the Whites eventually won 6-5 on penalties.
And the very last Leeds game he oversaw came 11 years after that in the 2014/15 Championship season, which was a 1-1 draw between Leeds and Norwich City at Carrow Road, with Souleymane Doukara on the scoresheet for Darko Milanic’s Leeds side.
Leeds United’s Championship game against Luton Town kicks off at 12:30pm on Saturday afternoon.
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