Mark Clattenburg has revealed the reasons behind his football related tattoos and hit back at claims that they make him ‘arrogant’.
Clattenburg called an end to his time as a professional referee back in 2017, having officiated in England’s top-flight and across Europe for 13 years prior.
Among his many outings on the pitch, Clattenburg officiated plenty of major events such as a European Championships final and a Champions League final.
The logos for both competitions have been indelibly marked upon his arms, since 2016, and now the former official has revealed the reasons as to why he’s done so.
Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, Clattenburg said: ‘People say to me: “why did you get tattoos? You’re sad!” I got a load of criticism for having the tattoos.
‘That’s probably why people thought of me as arrogant. It wasn’t about that. Because you get so many down sides… refereeing was such a lonely place.
Mark Clattenburg has revealed the reasons behind his football related tattoos
The former referee has tattoos marking the Euro 2016 and 2016 Champions League finals
‘When you make mistakes, trust me, you’re very lonely. You’ve got no one around you. Your colleagues don’t come around you because they want your next game! They’re laughing!
‘So, when you’re really low, I used to look at the tattoos and go: ‘I was a kid from a council background and I actually achieved something’.
‘That’s something I used to look for when I had those dark moments. I could look at something and go: ‘I actually refereed the Champions League final’ and that’s what kept me going.’
Clattenburg was the referee for both the Euro 2016 final and the 2016 UEFA Champions League final.
He’s since embarked on a new venture as a referee for popular TV show Gladiators, while keeping an eye on his former colleagues when they’re officiating.
In the same podcast, Clattenburg has insisted that Michael Oliver is no longer the best referee in the Premier League and named the official who he believes has taken the crown.
Clattenburg said: ‘If you asked me a month or two ago, I would’ve said Michael Oliver. But Michael’s really struggling after that challenge in the FA Cup – he shouldn’t be missing that.
Clattenburg took charge of three finals in summer 2016, including the Champions League
He was also the man in charge for the Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal
‘He shouldn’t need VAR to see the goalkeeper coming out like that. I like Michael because he’s like me. He wants to manage games, the players like him, he interacts… but the game has changed so much.
‘There’s no characters on the pitch anymore. When I was a referee, we had great characters. What I’m watching now, I don’t see players with character. And so the referee’s haven’t got any character. So, now it’s very sterile.
‘Looking at the best referee at the moment, [it would] probably be Anthony Taylor. I like Chris Kavanagh – he’s a good referee. Sam Barratt, one of the new referees.
‘What’s interesting about him is that Sam’s an ex-player. And what you can see when you analyse is that you can see he’s an ex-player. And he understands the game’.
