"NONSENSE!" - Dean comments rubbished by former referees as FA urged to investigate claim he played 'secret games' during Premier League matches

Two former Premier League referees have criticised Mike Dean after the ex-official claimed to have played secret ‘games’ in matches during his time in the top flight. The former referee claimed that such games would involve waiting to see how long he could go without blowing the whistle or leaving the centre circle.

Dean spent more than two decades as a referee in English football before retiring from the profession in 2022, and went on to spend a further year as a video assistant referee.

During an appearance on Jamie Vardy's Having a Party podcast, Dean said: "There used to be games that we used to have, as a laugh, we used to say, 'Right, we'll kick off now, right? See how long we can go without blowing a whistle.'

"Done that a few times in the Premier, before VAR obviously. Went 20–25 minutes without blowing a whistle a few times. Let it go, let it go, let it go.

"I used to do another thing in the Premier League. I used to stand in the centre circle and see how long I could stay in the centre circle before I had to leave. That was just me joking about. The lads used to be on the line saying 'you can't'. I said 'I'll try it'. I just used to run around but don't come out of it. Got about 15 minutes once in one game, without leaving the centre circle."

Such comments have caused some outrage among the football community with calls for the FA to launch an investigation, while two former referees have openly criticised Dean as a result.

Former Premier League referee Graham Scott labelled the claims from Dean about games within matches as ‘nonsense’.

“I worked with Mike [Dean] loads at times, they’re not true stories,” Scott told talkSPORT.

“It’s kind of the audio equivalent of clickbait isn’t it, to try and get people interested and laughing. It’s palpable nonsense.

“Mike Dean [was] of course an outstanding ref, but it makes it so much harder when retired referees either bash their former colleagues for the sake of it.

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“It’s fine to criticise, I do that, but do it with a bit of context and a bit of empathy.”

Scott later added: “I challenge Mike and say, ‘Okay, would you stand in front of the current refs and repeat all of those things?’

“And of course he wouldn’t, because they’re not true.”

Mark Halsey, another former Premier League referee, was in disbelief at the comments made by Dean.

“All my years as a professional referee, I have to say I’ve never heard of these games. Never,” Halsey told BBC Sport.

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“And I have to say that I have never, ever thought about playing any sort of game, going out to referee.

“Because they’re massive games, you’ve got the fans, you’ve got the players, you’ve got the managers, the delegates, the coaches.

“So I’m astounded, and if Mike has played these games, then he’s done that on his own accord.

“And if he has, then I think we need to know what games he’s done them in? How many games he’s done them in?

“And it brings into question the integrity of every official.”

Mirror Football has approached the FA for comment regarding Dean's claims.

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