Legendary referee Mike Dean has retired. How many cards did he deal during his career and who did he show the most?

In Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Watford, neither team really cared about anything anymore, yet this match was something special. Mike Dean was saying goodbye to his career. A referee that a lot of people hate, but everyone has to admit he is one of the Premier League’s most outstanding figures.

He joined the English top flight in 2000. In 22 years as a referee, Mike Dean managed to intervene in 560 matches, in which he whistled 11 786 fouls, 186 penalties and awarded 2046 yellow and 114 red cards.

He holds the Premier League record for red cards. As no other referee has got over 100 yet, Dean will stay at the top for a while yet.

He drew his first red card in April 2001. It was seen by Nolberto Solano of Newcastle for hand play. Dean’s last red was picked up by Brentford’s Josh Dasilva this February for a foul on Newcastle’s Matt Targett.

Dean has managed to show 2 red cards in one game a total of 14 times, he even managed a “hat trick” twice. Firstly in 2004 during the WBA – Fulham game he sent off Papa Bouba Diop, Neil Clement and Andy Cole in succession.

4 years later, during the Manchester City – Tottenham clash, Gelson Fernandes, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Richard Dunne went to the showers again.

Richard Dunne, as well as the aforementioned Andy Cole, are 2 of the 6 players who have seen a red card twice from Dean. The others are Fernando Torres, Mark Williamson, Laurent Koscielny and Ashley Young.

Ashley Young also boasts another interesting fact:: in April 2019, Mike Dean awarded him his 100th red card.

With Dean’s career over, Manchester City fans can breathe the biggest sigh of relief. The last victim was Zinchenko in February 2020 during a match against Spurs.

Dean’s second “favorite” team was Chelsea (9 reds), followed by Newcastle (8), West Brom (7), Arsenal (6) and Tottenham, Stoke, Southampton, West Ham (5).

In Dean’s collection of red cards we can also find a Czech trace. In the 2020/21 season he sent off Tomáš Souček for a foul on Fulham striker Mitrović, but this card was retrospectively revoked.

During his career, the English referee was also in charge of some very important matches, the most famous one is probably Manchester City – QPR, when Aguero decided the title in the setup. Do you think he escaped a yellow card for taking his jersey off after celebrating the goal? No, Mike Dean was relentless.

The most cards in a single game he pulled out in the Tyne – Wear derby between Sunderland and Newcastle in the 2011/12 season – 2 reds and 9 yellows.

In contrast, his last game of his career was a bore. He showed no cards to Chelsea or Watford players, neither team could enjoy a penalty either.

“When the next season starts, I’m sure I’ll miss not going out on the pitch as a referee anymore, but I’ve managed to have a lot of good moments during my career. It’s time to move on and see what awaits me now. We’ll see what the future holds for me,” Dean told the DailyStar.

Source: The Analyst, Daily Star