‘I picked up my boot and launched it at him… I finally had enough!’: Mark Clattenburg reveals moment he almost quit football after dressing room row with Jose Mourinho and how his fiery response left Portuguese STUNNED
- Mark Clattenburg said he once launched his boot at Jose Mourinho after a game
- The then Manchester United boss confronted Clattenburg over a decision
- Clattenburg says in a new book that he’d had enough of ‘ridiculous mind games’
- Mourinho was left ‘frozen’ and speechless after Clattenburg threw a boot at him
I am often asked if there was one match that persuaded me to quit the Premier League. What follows is as close as I can remember to a moment when I thought: ‘You know what, I don’t give a f*** any more.’
It was Stoke versus Manchester United on January 21 2017. Wayne Rooney had broken Sir Bobby Charlton’s Manchester United scoring record with a late free-kick for a 1-1 draw. It was not long after full-time when there was a knock at my dressing room door and United manager Jose Mourinho came in. I was just taking my boots off.
‘You must be happy this time,’ I said. ‘You can’t blame me for that draw, can you?’
Referee Mark Clattenburg (left) has revealed he once threw his boot at Jose Mourinho (right)
Clattenburg tells the story of the Mourinho incident in his new autobiography ‘Whistle Blower’
‘I can,’ he said.
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!’
Clattenburg said Mourinho’s ‘ridiculous mind games’ nearly made him quit the Premier League
Mourinho froze. I lost it with him. I did not give a s*** any more.
He did not know what to say. I was so fed up with all of the ridiculous mind games.
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 any more.’
Extracted from WHISTLE BLOWER by Mark Clattenburg, published on 30th September by Headline at £20. © Mark Clattenburg 2021. To order a copy for £18 (offer valid to 2/10/21; UK P&P free on orders over £20), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193.
