After more than two decades and countless big calls, Mike Dean will step onto a Premier League pitch as a referee for the final time on Sunday.
The 53-year-old has been a top-flight official since back in 2000, and has gone from being a nervous rookie to one of the most recognisable officials in Premier League history.
His final bow will come on the last day of the season as he oversees the clash between third-place Chelsea and relegated Watford at Stamford Bridge.
Dean has had a varied career, only moving into refereeing full-time after working in a chicken factory and slaughtering more than 100,000 birds every day. His time in football has been a number of things, but forgettable is not one of them.
"I started [at the chicken factory] in about 1991 or 1992 I think," Dean told Tubes on the Golf Life YouTube channel in 2021 (via The Star). I used to work in the factory to start with, packing up all the chicken fillets and stuff like that.
"Then I moved to the other end where, let's just say, we welcomed them in alive and they didn't leave alive.. By about the second or third week [in the job], I started hanging them."
A lot has happened since then, though, with Dean at the centre of some big Premier League and cup moments. Here, Mirror Football looks back at what some big names have said about the outgoing ref.
Will you miss Mike Dean? Have your say in the comments section
Arsene Wenger
Dean accounted an altercation with Wenger back in the 2017-18 season, after a game in which Arsenal's opponents West Bromwich Albion were awarded a late penalty. However, the interactions between the pair away from the pitch have been more pleasant.
"He was very aggressive leaning towards me, pointing aggressively at me saying ‘you’re not honest’ on numerous occasions," Dean said in his report. "I replied ‘so you’re calling me a cheat’. He replied ‘I maintain what I say, you’re not honest’."
Dean would later call Wenger the most intimidating manager he had faced, though off the field it's a different story. “I always found it tough, not refereeing Arsenal in general but refereeing Arsenal when he (Wenger) was the manager," he said.
"It was just his presence – he wanted the best for Arsenal all the time and if he could get any way of getting one over you he would do. Since he has finished football I have seen him and he has been great. Cross the white line and everyone is different, like referees. We are normal people.”
Jose Mourinho
Back in 2014, Dean was the man in the middle as Chelsea lost to Sunderland to see their title hopes disappear. Fabio Borini scored the Black Cats' winner from the penalty spot, and Blues boss Mourinho had his say after the game.
"I just want to say four things and I'm sorry because if you ask me more questions I'll repeat exactly the same thing," the Portuguese coach said in a sarcastic post-match interview. ""Congratulations to my players because they gave what they have and what they don't have. Congratulations to Sunderland, because they won.
"Congratulations to Mike Dean because he made a fantastic performance and congratulations to Mike Riley, because what they did during the season was fantastic for the way the championship is going. Congratulations to all of them and I have nothing more to say."
Neil Warnock
Warnock's response to news of Dean's decision was extremely in keeping with the former Cardiff City manager's style. Warnock himself only retired in April, and had come into contact with Dean on plenty of occasions.
“[It’s] ten years too late!" the 73-year-old told talkSPORT after hearing reports that Dean may be ready to step away. "That’s the problem, it’s not going to help me, is it?
“I haven’t got time to go through the ones he’s given me over the years, but don’t forget I’m always with a little club so Mike, like some of the other referees, tends to go with the bigger club. Listen, he’s as good as anything. He has great games and I look at him and think that he doesn’t have to do what he does.
“’A good referee was never seen’ my dad used to say to me, and he could referee like that, but he always has to do that extra bit for some reason to get himself in the limelight. Overall he’s a very good referee. He knows everything about it, but he just gets carried away.”
Garth Crooks
Crooks has never been one to mince his words, and the pundit spoke out about Dean in April. The BBC pundit has called into question a number of Dean decisions, including one from a meeting between Arsenal and Chelsea in the 2015-16 season.
"I would like to say thanks for the memories but I can't," he said. "One manager was of the view when he heard the news that Dean should have retired 10 years ago. Well, I wouldn't go quite that far but the referee does have a habit of bringing those emotions out in people.
“He has been at the centre of too many controversial decisions over the years. His pompous manner and flamboyant behaviour on the pitch have left many confused and angry when all we wanted to do was enjoy the game."
Mike Dean
We'll leave the last word on Mike Dean to the man himself. While plenty from inside and outside the game have spoken out about him, no one knows better than Dean himself what it's been like to be in his shoes.
"I think the players I've refereed over the years, some don't like me and some do like me," he told BBC Sport in April. "But when I've given players a bit of stick back, or given them a one-liner back, and they don't like it, then I will apologise five minutes later and say 'sorry for what I said before', and we move on and we shake hands.
"But I think players like the way I ref, because they know they can give me some stuff and I can give it them back, and they can get away with it within the boundaries that are allowed." Whether he moves into a VAR-focused role or simply steps away, he's likely to be missed.
