‘It was horrendous so I sniffed it’ – Mike Dean’s top Premier League moments amid retirement featuring no-look yellow cards, Januzaj bum slap and that Tottenham celebration

Iconic Premier League referee Mike Dean is retiring at the end of this season to take up a role as a full-time video assistant referee.

The 53-year-old is hanging up his whistle after Chelsea’s clash with Watford, leading to speculation that he could be a contender to join this year’s I’m A Celebrity line-up.

Dean has been no stranger to being the centre of attention during his refereeing career, with Neil Warnock joking that his retirement has come ‘ten years too late’.

But had Dean walked away from the middle of the pitch a decade ago then fans would never have had the chance to see some of his highlights…

That Spurs celebration

A match between Tottenham and Aston Villa in 2015 at White Hart Lane is what Dean’s name is synonymous with.

Mousa Dembele had just scored for Spurs and Dean was seen running back towards the centre-circle pumping his arm as if he was celebrating.

When he was asked on That Peter Crouch Podcast what was the most ‘Mike Dean’ thing he had ever done was, he replied: “Probably the stupid Tottenham vs Aston Villa advantage about four years ago.

“I’ve played on and you don’t play on when it’s in the box because its either a pen or you don’t do nothing.

“When it’s gone in the back of the net I’ve just gone ‘that will do me’ but I’ve pointed to the centre circle and didn’t realise I was doing it that much until it showed it on the screen and one official said ‘have a look at the TV’.

“I thought ‘f****** hell, we are going to get a bit of a b********* tomorrow I think!’ That’s the most bizarre thing I have ever done.”

Tranmere till he dies

From accidental celebrations to genuine ones – Mike Dean has found himself going viral for games he’s not even refereed!

The top-flight whistler became a social media sensation when his beloved Tranmere Rovers sealed a play-off semi-final win in 2019.

Dean, who has publicly admitted to singing ‘the referee’s a w*****’ while watching his team, was filmed celebrating wildly in the Forest Green away end.

Tranmere eventually reached League One after beating Newport in the Wembley final but there was sadly no repeat of Dean’s theatrics.

The man himself told Sky Sports: “I think it was just a long, long season and luckily we got over the line in the end in the final.

“I felt a bit stupid to be fair. But it’s just the passion.

“I love the club. I’ve followed them for years, home and away since the mid-80s and it’s great.”

No-look yellow cards

Liverpool star Roberto Firmino is among the modern players to have popularised turning your head away from the ball when scoring.

But it takes a special kind of referee to pull of the same skill when brandishing cards as Dean has proved on a number of occassions.

Perhaps inspired by Firmino, Dean’s first no-look yellow actually came in the 2016 Merseyside derby when Ross Barkley was booked.

The man from Wirral was back at it again as recently as December when he couldn’t bare to look at Ryan Fraser when he was cautioned during Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Slam Dunk

Following the last round of fixtures, Dean has now refereed 553 Premier League matches and issued a record 114 reds.

But he’s also not above rubbing salt in the wounds of sanctioned stars once he actually looks at them when they’re being booked!

Brighton’s Lewis Dunk found that out the hard way when he received his marching orders against Bournemouth in 2018 only to see Dean appear to mouth the words ‘off you pop’.

Dean said: “I walk out, without being arrogant – there is a touch of arrogance and I know there is – but it’s also a lot of confidence in myself because I believe in my ability.

“I do come across like a showman. If the ball comes towards me I will let it go through my legs, I love a stepover.”

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Turn the other cheek

One of Dean’s other red card victims was Adnan Januzaj after he was dismissed while on loan for Sunderland against Tottenham in 2016.

But just months earlier the Belgian received a far worse punishment from Dean who slapped his behind while he was still at Manchester United.

The moment flew under the radar at the time as it came when Januzaj was replacing Marcus Rashford – who had just scored twice on his Premier League debut in a 3-2 win over Arsenal.

But it’s gone down as another piece of Mike Dean folklore since.

Smell you later

Ahead of a Manchester derby, Dean was captured bizarrely sniffing his linesman’s shirt as the team’s lined up before kick-off.

He told Sky Sports: “I wouldn’t say I sniffed my linesman, I sniffed his shirt.

“Ian puts this oil stuff on his shirt, and it stunk in the tunnel before the game, stunk going out and it just wouldn’t go away… it was horrendous so I just sniffed it.”