David Moyes was charged by the FA for accusing Mark Clattenburg of wanting to be Liverpool’s ‘friend’ after the controversial 2007 Merseyside derby and now the former referee has admitted he cocked up that match.
Clattenburg sent off two Everton players – upgrading Tony Hibbert’s yellow card to a red just as Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was passing – and gave two penalties to Liverpool.
But the most heinous decision was his refusal to award a late penalty to Everton after Jamie Carragher very clearly hauled down Joleon Lescott.
The fall-out from that game involved Clattenburg getting death threats from Everton fans and Moyes being charged by the FA for saying: “You wonder whether they allow themselves to be influenced by the top four. Didn’t Clattenburg go to Hong Kong with Liverpool for the Asia Cup this summer? Maybe he wants to be their friend.”
Moyes was eventually let off with a warning as the FA tacitly acknowledged that Clattenburg had made a series of poor decisions, which prevented him from refereeing Everton games for several years.
**READ: [Ex-Premier League referee reveals the only Tottenham vs Chelsea VAR mistake](https://www.football365.com/news/tottenham-chelsea-clattenburg-var-mistake-udogie)**
“There’s one game I wish I could referee again,” Clattenburg told Daily Mail Sport’s Whistleblowers podcast.
“I was a young referee. I was only one year into my Premier League career, but I had already been given Manchester United-City and the North London derby the previous week.
“I was appointed to referee Everton-Liverpool at Goodison. I am not using this as an excuse, but I had never experienced that type of derby before.
“It was ferocious. This was a working-class derby, and I got it completely wrong.
“I sent off two Everton players. One, the Everton fans thought I changed my mind because of Steven Gerrard.
“He walked past the camera when I was changing from a yellow to a red card… but it was always a red card for Tony Hibbert.
“It looked like Gerrard said something to me, and I had changed my mind. That obviously never happened. I also sent off Phil Neville for a handball on the line.
“The worst mistake I made was near the end of the game. I don’t know what was going on in my mind.
“Jamie Carragher pulled down Joleon Lescott for an easy penalty. If I had given it, Everton had the chance to equalise.
“In the eyes of Everton, I had made three big errors – all the big decisions seemed to go in Liverpool’s favour.
“After the game, I received death threats. I didn’t referee an Everton game for six years afterwards. I learnt a lot from that game, how to understand a match, how to balance the emotions of a big derby.
“The North London derby was a football match. This was a war. I lost control. I lost my ability to make decisions.
“I was a young referee, and I did recover. I refereed Everton years later for some amazing matches. Beating Manchester City 4-0, Moyes’s last game.
“But people only remember that one moment – football fans never forgive you. It doesn’t matter how many good decisions you go on to make.”