Footballers who 7 ex-Prem referees named as the toughest players to officiate

The Premier League has had its fair share of characters over the years – and a handful of them send shivers down referees' spines.

From potty-mouth defenders to pain-in-the-backside playmakers, officials have been opening up over the last few years on who they believe was the most difficult to deal with.

It's clear to see that one particular player was not the best thought of in the refereeing fraternity, as he is mentioned by five of our seven officials.

READ MORE: Referee says he sent off Prem’s ‘most irritating player’ for dive – even though it wasn’t

READ MORE: Craig Bellamy was booted out of Man City training 'just for asking a question'

Mike Dean

We'll start with everyone's favourite. Mike Dean has been enjoying retirement after officiating in the Premier League for over 20 years.

He has taken charge of almost everyone over his illustrious spell on the pitch, but one name – which you will see become a recurring theme in this piece – stands out to him.

"Craig Bellamy was tough," he said. "The likes of Robbie Savage and Joey Barton, I got well with them. He [Bellamy] is probably the toughest one I've refereed.

"I know why he's like that, because when you cross the white line you want to win for two hours, don't you?

"A lot of players can be like that, but I just found him a little bit harder than the rest of them to be honest."

Dean also spoke about taking charge of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira: "I got in the Premier League in 2000 when I was 31, 32, and you had massive, big personality players the Keanes, people like that, Vieira, they were all around then. It was just a massive step, and I was probably in awe of them as well to be fair. [I was] probably a bit nervous and a bit scared of making a decision."

Mark Halsey

It's a similar story for Bolton-based ex-whistler Mark Halsey – but he managed to get his own back on Bellamy without him knowing.

The former Premier League official was tasked with keeping the peace at Vincent Kompany's testimonial, which saw Manchester City Legends take on the Premier League All-Stars.

However, when Bellamy was subbed on, and immediately made a beeline towards Halsey, he had a change of heart.

Speaking on Undr the Cosh, Halsey joked: "Nicky Butt was on one team, and Craig Bellamy was on the other team; Bellamy was a substitute, and he comes straight for me!

"So Nicky, they didn't get on very well, comes up to me and goes: 'Mark, do you want me to do him for you?' I went: 'I'll give you one challenge!'"

Halsey continued to tell the story, joking it wasn't long until the winger had the ball, and Butt was quick to take his chance.

"A couple of minutes later Bellamy's got the ball, and he came in and whack! Right from behind! He's put him up in the air, and they've had to get the trainer on the pitch."

As Bellamy received a treatment at the testimonial, Halsey called Butt over: "I blew up. 'Nicky come in here', and I go 'f***ing well done, but no more'. He said: 'No problem Mark'."

Martin Atkinson

Ok, here we go, we've found one who didn't go for Bellamy.

Martin Atkinson in fact went for Alan Stubbs as his worst player to officiate.

"He would kick anything that moved, was hard as nails and scared me to death when I first got on," Atkinson said. "He was just so tough to referee that it was, like, impossible. I learned a lot from that – you learn how to manage players."

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Mark Clattenburg

Clattenburg was a fan favourite after his retirement because he refused to hold back on any issues and put himself up for interview frequently.

Of course, he has talked about the biggest pains in his backside on the pitch – and there are four names he has pinpointed.

He started with Bellamy, obviously: "I knew my relationship with him was on sticky ground when he squeezed my balls in the tunnel at the Etihad, and I don’t mean my match balls.

“He would snarl at you and throw his arms around, constantly challenging you. His language was awful, just plain rude. As a referee, it is difficult when you have a problem player like that because you are drawn to him and it’s a distraction."

Clattenburg also went for Rio Ferdinand: "I found him difficult to referee during that Fergie era because he was always trying to play mind games. He tried to get under your skin, probably to get that next decision. He was such a difficult player to referee as he was always in your face. When I got older and a bit more wiser, he probably left us alone more."

Roy Keane, perhaps not to anyone's great surprise, was included: "Roy was physical, hard and you couldn't trust him. Look at the tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland for example. You never knew what he was going to do next. He always came across as stone-cold and wanted to be the hard man."

But perhaps the biggest surprise is Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann: "I used to find Jens Lehmann such hard work. He was always difficult because he'd always whinge about people stepping on his toes in the penalty area. A corner would come in and they would give him a little nudge and he'd go ballistic and push players and have arguments with referees. He was always a difficult one."

Howard Webb

Yep, we're back on Bellamy. Webb said: “Not long after the 2010 World Cup, I was fourth official at Anfield and was sitting quietly on my own at the back of the technical area.

"Bellamy was on the bench for Liverpool, and happened to catch sight of me sitting behind him. ‘Oi you, f***ing s**thouse,’ he yelled. ‘You f***ed up that World Cup good and proper, didn’t you, eh?’

“Not wishing to lower myself to his level with a similarly snide retort, I pretended I hadn’t heard. However, I remember thinking at the time there weren’t many more obnoxious players around than Craig Bellamy.”

Jeff Winter

Jeff Winter was one of the top referees in the late 90s and early 00s, but was not particularly a fan favourite. His opinion on his most awkward players might not do him any favours either.

Speaking about much-loved Arsenal legend Ian Wright, he said: "I remember when my career was actually over, two weeks after the FA Cup final, and Wright was playing in a Legends match. He came on and the minute he came on, I thought, ‘Oh, s**t.’ It was a Legends match but the game totally changed straight away because he was in my face, screaming and moaning.”

Another TV personality was on Winter's hit-list, as he went for Sky commentator Alan Smith: “My lasting memory of him on a football pitch was obnoxious, foul-mouthed, disputing every decision, in the days where the cameras were into the players’ faces; effing, blinding, screaming, shouting. Smith epitomised that type of player."

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Michael Oliver

The only current Premier League referee on our list.

Oliver is widely considered the best Premier League referee in the current crop – and he appears to agree with a chunk of his former colleagues on who was the most difficult.

He said: “Craig Bellamy was incredibly difficult. I watched him for two or three years — I’m a Newcastle fan and you wanted him in your team because he was a winner. But he was a nightmare to referee because he would argue about everything. If you told him it was black, he’d tell you it was white.”

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