Mark Clattenburg is an English football referee, who operates in the Football League and the Premier League, and for FIFA. He is based in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He trained as an electrician and is of part-Canadian ancestry.
Clattenburg became a FIFA referee in 2006, at the age of 30 - reaching this distinction earlier than any English referee in living memory. He refereed Alan Shearer's testimonial match on 11 May 2006; he is a Newcastle United fan, and therefore does not referee competitive games involving Newcastle. On 9 September 2006, he took charge of a qualifying match for the 2007 UEFA Under-17s Championship at the Gradski Stadium in Skopje between Macedonia and Denmark; the away side winning 3–0.
In 2004, he became a Select Group referee in the Premier League, and his debut match at this level was the 3–1 away win by Everton against Crystal Palace on 21 August of the same year.
Clattenburg was appointed to control both legs of the 2006–07 FA Youth Cup final, contested by Liverpool and Manchester United, firstly at Anfield on 16 April 2007 which United won 2-1, and then at Old Trafford on 26 April 2007 which Liverpool won 1-0. With the aggregate scores tied, Liverpool won the subsequent penalty shoot-out 4-3 after a goalless 30 minutes of extra time.
In 2008, Clattenburg was appointed to referee the FA Community Shield, with Dave Richardson and Ian Gosling assisting and Andre Marriner acting as fourth official. However, Clattenburg was later suspended from refereeing, pending an investigation into alleged debts incurred by companies to which he is connected. The match between Portsmouth and Manchester United took place at Wembley Stadium with Peter Walton as the replacement referee.
Following the investigation into his personal life and business debts, the referees' governing body dismissed Clattenburg, citing a breach of contract. He denied all the allegations and appealed the decision. On 18 February 2009 the Professional Game Match Officials Board reinstated Clattenburg as a Select Group referee. However, he had to serve an eight-month suspension, starting from his original suspension date of 6 August 2008. Upon his return from suspension on the last day of the Premier League season, Clattenburg refereed the fixture between Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers.
Clattenburg's only involvement to date in a FIFA World Cup was as fourth official for the 2010 tournament qualifying match between Russia and Azerbaijan in Baku on 14 October 2009.
