  Mike Dean officiated his last Premier League game yesterday at the Stamford Stadium when Chelsea took on Watford. The 53 years old who is also the longest-serving referee in the English Premier League has been active as a top-flight official since 2000. During his 22 years of active service, he has taken charge of 560 games and has dished out 114 red cards, the most by any manager in history, and 2046 yellow cards.
Known specially for his no nonsense approach and as the toughest referee, Mike has taken charge of the biggest games during his spell at the EPL and has risen to officiating in the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup.
This season Mike Dean officiated 29 games, he has dished out 90 yellow cards and two red cards.
In an interview recently with Sky Sport, Mike Dean said:
“Times have moved on, referees are getting older, I am not getting as fit as I used to be, so things have got to change,’ the 53-year-old told Sky Sports.
‘I have made the decision myself, I have gone out on my terms which is what I wanted to do and nobody else’s terms which is good.
‘I will miss when the season starts next season and not walking out to referee a game, but I have had a good innings with 22 years.
‘It is time to move on and see what is in the future, maybe we don’t know yet, but we will see.”Â
When asked if he will continue as a VAR referee as rumoured, Dean said:
“I have been offered no VAR role at all, that is just word of mouth, I think.
‘It could be there if I wanted to go for it, but I don’t know yet. I need to keep my options open and see what is available.
‘I will miss the banter with the lads, the referees. We give up quite a lot as guys back home, we don’t really have an outside life because we are away every weekend and here (at the PGMOL base) every two weeks”.
