FORMER Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg revealed Jose Mourinho hates him for helping him get the sack at Chelsea.
Clattenburg, 45, quit top-flight reffing in 2017 to move to Saudi Arabia and replace Howard Webb as the country’s head of refereeing before later picking up the whistle in the Chinese Super League.
And Clattenburg lifted the lid on why Spurs boss Mourinho blames him for being shown the door at Stamford Bridge in his second spell at the Blues.
Clattenburg was the man in the middle for Mourinho’s last game in charge – a 2-1 defeat at Claudio Ranieri‘s Leicester in 2015.
Read our Chelsea live blog for the very latest news from the Bridge
He told Paddy Power’s From The Horse’s Mouth podcast: “Well, he blames me for getting him the sack at Chelsea – but I would say it was more all of the results before that, too.
“He was hard work when he came back from Real Madrid, and well, I got him the sack at Chelsea.
“When he went to Manchester United, he was thinking the same thing – I’m going to get him the sack, so he was always anti-me.
“In general, managers like Sir Alex, at the time it was all about if they win you were the best referee in the world.
“There was only one team that really hated me when I was in the Football League, and that was Wigan.
“Wigan didn’t win for 13 matches, so it didn’t matter what I did, they never won.”
Long before the days of VAR, Mourinho’s final game in charge seemed uncontroversial but Clattenburg still felt the Portuguese manager’s wrath.
The celeb ref is famous for getting tattoos of the trophies of tournaments and big games he has officiated in, including the 2016 Champions League final and Euro 2016.
He also revealed he would ‘never, ever trust’ former United skipper Roy Keane on the pitch.
The Irishman is now a no-nonsense pundit but previously was a hugely intimidating presence on the field for officials and Clattenburg once joked he changed a decision after the midfielder raged at him.
He added: “I made some banter about it – I made a joke about it and then it went viral.
“I remember saying that I gave a corner and he screamed at us, so I gave a goal kick.
“It was just a bit of a fabrication, but you know what? That’s the way he was.
“He used to shout and scream at you and sometimes you’d be like ‘woah, what’s going on there?’
“Especially when I was a young referee, I was probably a little bit intimidated, but then the more I got to know him, you see a different side of him especially when he’s working as a pundit.
“When he was on the pitch, oh my god he was a player that you would never, ever trust because he would put a tackle in and as a referee, if you missed it, you were the one that got the blame – not Roy Keane for actually making the tackle.”
Mark Clattenburg was talking on Paddy Power’s podcast, From The Horse’s Mouth, which you can listen to at podfollow.com/horsesmouth
