The highs, the lows, the reds and yellows: farewell Mike, Martin and Mossy

As another nailbiting, squeaky‑bum Premier League season nears its end, the veteran referees Mike Dean, Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson are hanging up their boots. Here, Big Brother-style, are their best and worst bits.

Premier League debut Leicester City v Southampton, 2000

Games 559

Red cards 114

Yellow cards 2,026

Most controversial decision Showing West Ham’s Sofiane Feghouli a straight red for an innocuous 50-50 challenge with Manchester United’s Phil Jones – a decision described by pundit Niall Quinn as “rank bad refereeing” and later overturned.

It’s only right to start with the most controversial of our retiree‑referees, something he would no doubt appreciate, as there’s no lack of ego where Dean is concerned. Dean has the dubious honour of being roundly disparaged by pretty much all fans, but he might argue the adage that if you’re not pissing someone off then you’re doing something wrong.

It’s very easy to piss Dean off: he hands out cards with the abandon of a leaflet-thrusting religious zealot on Oxford Street. He has been a Premier League referee since 2000 – that’s 559 matches and counting – and in that time he has issued an unprecedented 114 red cards and an almost unbelievable 2,026 yellows, awarding 184 penalties. Those figures, as you might imagine, are well clear of other officials in the league.

But flourishing cards isn’t all for which Dean is known: there are the high-jinks, as when he hid the match ball from the hat‑trick‑scoring Sergio Agüero, and the showboating stepovers. It should come as no surprise then that “Deano” is a former ballroom dancing champion. (I would put money on a future Strictly Come Dancing appearance.) He has also pioneered the ostentatious “no-look booking”, like a