Mike Dean's 99 Red Cards
Going in to his 473rd Premier League game, Mike Dean is on the cusp of setting a first in the Premier League. He could become the first referee to issue 100 Red Cards in their Premier League career. This weekend he has been handed one of the games of the season in the form of Man City vs Chelsea at the Etihad stadium. Mike has referee’d more games than any other match official with Martin Atkinson the closest to him (a full 102 games behind). We went through the archives to find out all about his first 99.
First Red Card
Mike Dean’s first red card came in the 16th game of his first season on the Premiership (as it was called then). Peruvian and Newcastle legend, Nolberto Solano was given his marching orders for denying a goal by hand against Ipswich Town on April 14, 2001.
Mike Dean’s first red card for Nolberto Solano
Credit: https://www.sportinglife.com
Fiery encounters
The 99 red cards came in 83 different matches. On twelve different occasions Mike Dean has pulled out his red card twice during match and has also officiated two games where he had to get it out a third time.:
18 Sep 2004
West Brom 1-1 Fulham - 🔴 Pape Bouba Diop (61' - Fulham), 🔴 Neil Clement (84' - West Brom), 🔴 Andy Cole (85' - Fulham)
09 Nov 2008
Man City 1-2 Tottenham - 🔴 Gelson Fernandes (26' - Man City), 🔴 Richard Dunne (83' - Man City), 🔴 Benoit Assou-Ekotto (89' - Tottenham)
Both Simon Hooper and David Coote who got promoted to the Select Group 1 before the 2018/19 season are yet to issue a red card in the Premier League.
Comparing to other PL Referees
Of the current batch of Select Group referees who officiate on the Premier League, Mike Dean currently has the highest average of red cards per game at 0.21 or about 1 every 5 games.
| Referee | Games | Reds | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- | |
| Mike Dean | 472 | 99 | 0.21 | |
| Andre Marriner | 301 | 55 | 0.18 | |
| Lee Probert | 174 | 30 | 0.17 | |
| Craig Pawson | 126 | 21 | 0.17 |
Simon Hooper and David Coote are the only active Select Group 1 referees who have yet to issue a red card (both currently sitting on 8 games). Andy Madley (a Select Group 2 referee) is also yet to issue a red card on the Premier League having taken control of 3 PL games so far in his career.
| #/ | Referee | G | R | Avg | PL Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| --- | ------- | ----- | ------ | ----- | ------- |
| 1 | Andy D'Urso | 121 | 34 | 0.28 | 99-06 |
| 2 | Rob Styles | 211 | 55 | 0.26 | 00-09 |
| 2 | Barry Knight | 76 | 20 | 0.26 | 99-06 |
| 4 | Peter Foakes | 20 | 5 | 0.25 | 92-94 |
| 5 | Mike Riley | 283 | 67 | 0.24 | 96-09 |
| 5 | Rob Harris | 50 | 12 | 0.24 | 98-01 |
| 7 | Phil Dowd | 308 | 67 | 0.22 | 01-15 |
| 8 | Mike Dean | 472 | 99 | 0.21 | 00-Present |
| 8 | Eddie Wolstenholme | 19 | 4 | 0.21 | 01-03 |
Timing of Cards
Over 2/3's of Mike Dean's red cards are given in the second half with 18 coming in Additional Time at the end of the match. The most Mike Dean has ever given in a season is nine, recorded in the 07/08 and 15/16 seasons and is also currenlty on nine for this season
The Hitlist
Of the 94 players Mike Dean has dismissed from the field of play only 5 players have received their marching orders more than once:
Andy Cole (whilst at Fulham and then again at Man City), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Mike Williamson (Newcastle), Richard Dunne (Man City).
The 94 players belonged to 33 different sides, with Chelsea and Man City having had 9 players sent off each by Mike Dean across the 18 seasons he’s officiated.
| Team | Reds |
|---|---|
| Chelsea | 9 |
| Man City | 9 |
| Newcastle | 7 |
| Arsenal | 6 |
| Stoke | 5 |
| Tottenham | 5 |
| West Brom | 5 |
Mike Williamson (Newcastle) is one of 5 players to receive 2 red cards from Mike Dean
How do you track your stats?
Did you know REFSIX can help you track all of your stats of your games including the number of red cards you’ve given, the average number per game as well enable you to easily find every match you’ve given a red card on. You can download REFSIX on both the PlayStore and AppStore.
Here are links to all of Mike Dean’s red card stats:
Every team who’s received a red card from Mike Dean
Every player who’s received a red card from Mike Dean
Every match Mike Dean has issued a red card on
*All data correct at time of writing.