Coin-throwing incident

On 5 April 2009 in the South Wales derby

South Wales derby

The South Wales derby is a football local derby between Welsh clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City and is regarded as one of the most fierce rivalries in British football....

 between Cardiff City and Swansea City

Swansea City A.F.C.

Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

, Dean suffered a cut to the forehead resulting from what appeared to be a coin thrown by a Cardiff supporter. He later awarded Cardiff a debatable penalty, which was converted to earn a draw for the home side. Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale

Peter Ridsdale

Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman who is currently the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.-History:...

 condemned the coin attack and announced that the supporter would be given a life-long ban if found guilty. A 24-year-old Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

 man was later convicted over the incident and given a three-year ban and £200 fine. No action was taken by the Football Association of Wales

Football Association of Wales

The Football Association of Wales is the governing body of association football in Wales. It is a member of FIFA, UEFA and the IFAB.Established in 1876 , it is the third-oldest national association in the world, and is one of the four associations The Football Association of Wales (FAW) is the...

 against Cardiff City.

Old Trafford controversy

In 2010 Dean was appointed to officiate the fixture at Old Trafford

Old Trafford

Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...

 between Manchester United and Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 on 3 April. The game was dubbed a potential Premier League "title decider". Chelsea won the match 2-1. Dean, along with his assistants Simon Beck and Stephen Child, were heavily criticised in the media for turning down up to four penalty kick

Penalty kick

A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 appeals, three for Manchester United and one for Chelsea. Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba

Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...

 scored Chelsea's second goal to give them a 2-0 lead, despite video replays appearing to show he was offside when the ball was played to him. Nearing the end of the game, Dean allowed a Manchester United goal to stand when Federico Macheda

Federico Macheda

Federico "Kiko" Macheda is an Italian footballer who plays as a striker for English Premier League club Manchester United. He joined Manchester United from Lazio in September 2007.-Early career:Macheda began his football career with Lazio...

 appeared to bundle the ball over the goal-line with his hands. United manager Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

 was among those who criticised Dean's performance. Ferguson said he was "worried" when Dean was appointed to the game after he had been in the media spotlight over controversial decisions he made in a Burnley

Burnley F.C.

Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

-Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 match the week prior. Burnley manager Brian Laws

Brian Laws

Brian Laws is an English former footballer and manager, most recently of Burnley.Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of Grimsby Town before taking a similar position with Scunthorpe...

 described the assignment of Dean to the Old Trafford game as "mad".

Europe

On 30 September 2010, Dean refereed a Europa League group stage match between Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund

Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...

 and Sevilla

Sevilla FC

Sevilla Fútbol Club S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, Spain that plays in the Spanish La Liga championship.They are one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football having won a 1 La Liga title, 5 Spanish "Copa del Rey" Cups, 1 Spanish Super Cup and 2 UEFA...

. Early in the second half he showed a second yellow card to Dortmund wingback Marcel Schmelzer

Marcel Schmelzer

Marcel Schmelzer is a German footballer who plays for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund as a left back. He has been capped by Germany at international level.-Club career:...

 for an alleged dive

Diving (football)

In association football, diving is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of contact present in a challenge...

. The decision was criticised by Dortmund management and supporters who claimed Schmelzer had not attempted to draw a foul, but merely lost his footing while trying to evade his opponent's tackle; Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Norbert Klopp is a retired German footballer and current manager of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga....

 called Dean's interpretation of the incident "absolutely crazy". Later, Dean elected not to issue a second yellow card to Sevilla defender Fernando Navarro

Fernando Navarro

Fernando Navarro i Corbacho is a Spanish footballer who plays for Sevilla FC as a left defender.-Club career:Having come through the ranks of giants FC Barcelona, Navarro was on the verge...

 for what appeared a tactical foul on Jakub Błaszczykowski.

Dean has officiated European Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

 qualifying matches. His first appointment was to the Euro 2008 group F qualifier between Iceland

Iceland national football team

The Iceland national football team is the national football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition....

 and Latvia

Latvia national football team

The Latvian national football team is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia and represents the country in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. So far, they have never qualified for a FIFA World...

 on 13 October 2007. The game in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík ended with a 4-2 win for the visitors. Dean's next European Championship match was on 12 October 2010 when he oversaw a group A

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group A

This page shows the standings and results for Group A of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying tournament.-Standings:- Results and fixtures :...

 qualifier for Euro 2012 between Belgium and Austria

Austria national football team

The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....

 in Brussels. The away team appeared to have secured a 3-2 victory but two Belgium goals on 87 and 89 minutes overturned that scoreline, only for ten-man Austria to score an injury-time equaliser to end with a 4-4 draw.

2011 League Cup final

On 31 January 2011, Dean was appointed to referee the 2011 League Cup final

2011 Football League Cup Final

The 2011 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Football League Cup, the 51st season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and the Football League. The match was contested by Arsenal and Birmingham City, at Wembley Stadium in...

 between Arsenal and Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

.

Birmingham won the match 2-1, with an 89th-minute winning goal by Obafemi Martins

Obafemi Martins

Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Rubin Kazan and the Nigeria national team. He is known for his speed on the ball....

. The Blues had taken the lead through Nikola Žigić

Nikola Žigic

Nikola Žigić is a Serbian footballer who plays for English club Birmingham City as a centre forward.At , Žigić is among the tallest professional players in the world...

, before Robin van Persie

Robin van Persie

Robin van Persie is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Arsenal and the Dutch national team. He is a youth product of Feyenoord. Having joined Arsenal in 2004, Van Persie became the club captain on 16 August 2011...

 equallised for Arsenal. Dean issued five yellow cards during the course of the final, and might have been required to interpret a significant event in just the second minute. An early Birmingham chance was created through Lee Bowyer

Lee Bowyer

Lee David Bowyer is an English professional footballer born in Canning Town, London, who plays as a midfielder for Ipswich Town of the Football League Championship....

, who appeared to be fouled by Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny

Wojciech Szczęsny

Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny is a Polish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Arsenal and the Poland national football team. He is the son of former Polish goalkeeper Maciej Szczęsny....

 in what would probably have been a penalty kick for Birmingham and a red card for the Gunners keeper. However, Bowyer was flagged offside by Dean's assistant (a decision which replays suggested was incorrect).

Card statistics

Season	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
1997/98 1997-98 in English football The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...	30	83	2.77	5	0.17
1998/99 1998-99 in English football -Premier League:Manchester United overcame close competition from Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea to win their fifth Premiership title in seven seasons thanks to the comeback of Roy Keane after his long-term injury and a transfer raid totalling nearly £30 million which netted Aston Villa striker...	38	96	2.53	4	0.11
1999/00	39	90	2.31	10	0.26
2000/01 2000-01 in English football The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...	37	106	2.86	4	0.11
2001/02 2001-02 in English football The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...	35	108	3.09	8	0.23
2002/03 2002-03 in English football The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...	36	155	4.31	9	0.25
2003/04 2003-04 in English football The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....	38	98	2.58	9	0.24
2004/05 2004-05 in English football The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...	24	66	2.75	7	0.29
2005/06 2005-06 in English football The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...	41	134	3.27	10	0.24
2006/07 2006-07 in English football The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...	43	173	4.02	16	0.37
2007/08 2007-08 in English football The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool...	45	154	3.42	10	0.22
2008/09	44	156	3.55	12	0.27
2009/10	43	148	3.44	7	0.16
2010/11 2010–11 in English football The 2010–11 season was the 131st season of competitive football in England.The season began on 6 August 2010 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier League and Football Conference both starting eight days later on 14 August 2010. The Championship, League One, and League Two ended on 7 May...	43	147	3.42	7	0.16
2011/12 2011–12 in English football The 2011–12 season is the 132nd season of competitive football in England.The season began on 5 August 2011 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier starting eight days later, League Football Conference Starting one day before Premier League starts.The Championship, League One, and League Two...

Statistics are for all competitions, including domestic, European and international. No records are available prior to 1997/98.

External links

• Mike Dean Profile at Refworld.com
• Mike Dean Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com
• Refs Corner: Mike Dean at the Football Association
• Profile on RateTheRef.net