Clattenburg in charge for Everton against Arsenal

Everton are going to have ‘superstar’ referee Mark Clattenburg in charge for tomorrow’s game against Arsenal. This will be his first Toffees game of the season, having been previously appointed to handle the Blues’ fixture against Crystal Palace before falling ill before the game and being replaced by Jon Moss.

Referee Mark Clattenburg is one of the most highly decorated referees in the game (and we don’t mean his tattoos either), having taken charge of the FA Cup, Champions League and Euro 2016 finals over the summer.

He has done 18 Everton games over the years, 17 in the Premier League and 1 in the FA Cup. In those matches, the Blues have 7 wins, 2 draws and 9 losses. The official’s last Everton game was also against Arsenal at Goodison Park, with the home side losing 2-0.

Toffees fans do not have fond memories of the referee, going back nearly a decade to an eventful Merseyside Derby in 2007 when he sent off two Everton players (Tony Hibbert and captain Phil Neville), didn’t even caution Dirk Kuyt for a kung-fu style challenge on Neville and then even denied the home side a late penalty following a blatant foul by Jamie Carragher. Evertonians were even more incensed because of how he appeared to have been influenced by the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard when dismissing Hibbert, having originally pulled out a yellow card before issuing a red after Gerrard spoke in his ear. The Reds went on to win 2-1 scoring two penalties.

Clattenburg was then kept away from doing Everton games for five years, until he took charge of a draw against Aston Villa where he once again ignored a legitimate shout for a penalty when Louis Saha was hauled back by Alan Hutton.

Games in 2014 and 2015 were mostly uneventful, until he awarded Stoke City a stoppage time penalty they scored to win 4-3 at Goodison Park. Then manager Roberto Martinez railed -

"John Stones got a touch of the ball and from that moment on you can see there’s a doubt in the mind of the referee. He didn’t give it straight away, he wanted confirmation so he goes to his linesman who is 45 yards away."

Match Officials Details -

Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Assistants: S Bennett, R West

Fourth official: M Dean

Mark Clattenburg Everton record -

World Football

Referee data courtesy of World Football