Aniket Rai
Mark Clattenburg admits to heated altercation with Jose Mourinho after Manchester United vs Stoke
Writing in his autobiography via Daily Mail (h/t Daily Star), former Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg, recalled the time when he hurled a shoe at Jose Mourinho after Manchester United drew against Stoke City in 2017.
Jose Mourinho was at the helm back then and a Wayne Rooney goal in added time saved a point for Manchester United at the bet365 Stadium. However, United had a big penalty shout after Ryan Shawcross seemingly handled the ball inside the box.
No penalty was given and Mourinho was incandescent after full time, so much so that he invaded Clattenburg’s dressing room and confronted him about it. The referee recalls the heated nature of the altercation in his autobiography.
“He started going on about a handball in the penalty area by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross. ‘What you on about?’ I said. ‘I got that right, I know I did.’ ‘No. I’ve seen the video. You were wrong.’ He was going on and on. Shut up man, will you? I picked up my boot and launched it against the wall next to him. ‘F***ing get out of my dressing room. Get out!’”
He then remembers Mourinho freezing on the spot after that. And Clattenburg, who is a former FIFA referee and was regarded as one of the best in the business during his heyday, stated that he lost the will to continue refereeing in the English top-flight after the incident.
“I drove home while going over and over the Shawcross incident. I watched it on Match of the Day and I was right, the ball hit him flush on the chest. So why was Mourinho playing funny buggers with me? I went to bed that night and I knew I’d had enough. ‘You know what,’ I thought, ‘I can’t be bothered with idiots like that anymore.’”
This is an interesting anecdote to go over but in all honesty, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Jose Mourinho has never been the easiest person to deal with for referees.
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Manchester United finished 6th in the league that season and a little less than two years after the draw against Stoke, Mourinho was sacked by the Red Devils in December 2018. Since then, he has gone on to manage Tottenham Hotspur and now, AS Roma, but it’s unlikely that his antics are about to stop anytime soon.
