Mark Clattenburg has seen it all when it comes to the world of football, but he says one Everton player always stood out as a particular challenge from his time on the pitch.
From World Cup action to continental football, Mark Clattenburg has officiated games involving some of the biggest and best players of the modern era.
His time in the Premier League threw up plenty of memorable moments, and he’s been reflecting on that in the latest episode of Beyond the Back Four. In this week’s episode, he was asked which player was the most difficult to deal with, and Clattenburg had an interesting answer.
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Everton fans will remember Duncan Ferguson’s antics all too well, as will most of his opponents. The physical Scottish striker is an icon of the late 90s and early 2000s, and he clearly made a big impact on Clattenburg.
Mark Clattenburg during West Brom vs Leicester City
Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Mark Clattenburg names Everton icon as tricky customer
Discussing the difficult players he refereed, Clattenburg namechecked Ferguson, but insisted he wasn’t necessarily a challenge as long as other players didn’t wind him up.
Clattenburg said: “I wouldn’t say like a difficult player, but in terms of just being intimidating, was Duncan Ferguson. I remember refereeing him a few times and, you know, if a player caught him in the air with an elbow, he would come and say, ‘Mark, look, if you don’t solve it, I’ll solve it.’
“And you’re thinking, ‘Oh my god.’ You know, but he had this way about him where he had a good sense of humour and he was such a nice guy. He wasn’t a guy who would abuse you, but he had this way and you knew when the ball was getting played up, it was arms, the defenders are trying to get at him, maybe wind him up and it was just a really challenging situation. Some players were like that, you know.”
Clattenburg recently suggested that Merseyside derby pressure got to referee Darren England. It sounds like England should just be thankful he didn’t have Ferguson to deal with as well.
Duncan Ferguson’s disciplinary record and goalscoring record
Admittedly, Ferguson did have a few issues with referees in his career. Across his 272 games at Everton, the big forward received six straight red cards and a further two from getting two bookings.
There are no players in the Premier League era who have more red cards than Ferguson, actually. Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira and Man City man Richard Dunne matched him with eight red cards, though.
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Which player would be most difficult to play against?
Interestingly, he never got sent off at any other club. Of particular note, during 41 games at Newcastle United, Ferguson only picked up two yellow cards.
Thankfully, Ferguson was just as prolific in front of goal as well as picking up bookings. The Scotsman bagged 72 goals for the Toffees and registered 13 assists, while adding another 12 for Newcastle.
He may not quite be the best finisher Everton have ever had, but Ferguson was a dependable target man who knew where the net was. Perhaps those disciplinary issues were a fair trade-off for the goals.