Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg opens up about a dressing room row with José Mourinho, revealing he threw his boot to the Roma coach when he was in charge of Manchester United.
The incident happened in 2017 after the Red Devils’ 1-1 draw against Stoke City.
The former referee wrote an extract of his autobiography ‘Whistle Blower’ for the Daily Mail.
“It was not long after full-time when there was a knock at my dressing room door and United manager Jose Mourinho came in. I was just taking my boots off,” wrote Clattenburg.
“‘You must be happy this time,’ I said. ‘You can’t blame me for that draw, can you?’
“‘I can,’ he said.”
“‘What you on about?’ I said. ‘I got that right, I know I did.’”
“‘No. I’ve seen the video. You were wrong.’ He was going on and on. Shut up man, will you?
“I picked up my boot and launched it against the wall next to him,” he revealed.
“‘F***ing get out of my dressing room. Get out!’”
“Mourinho froze. I lost it with him. I did not give a s*** anymore. He did not know what to say. I was so fed up with all of the ridiculous mind games,”
“I drove home while going over and over the Shawcross incident. I watched it on Match of the Day and I was right, the ball hit him flush on the chest. So why was Mourinho playing funny buggers with me?
“I went to bed that night and I knew I’d had enough. ‘You know what,’ I thought, ‘I can’t be bothered with idiots like that anymore.’”
The former referee also revealed the incident with Mourinho made him want to quit referring in English football.
Mourinho signed a three-year deal with Roma in May, only a few months after being sacked by Tottenham.
Last week, he took charge of his 1,000th game as a coach, snatching a 2-1 win against Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Giallorossi have won six games out of six across all competitions so far this season and are the Serie A table leaders with Napoli and Milan.
Roma face Hellas Verona at the Stadio Bentegodi tomorrow.
"Get out of my dressing room. Get out!" 😡🔴 https://t.co/W9CUex85my
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) September 18, 2021
Watch them bottle it against the team who sit at the bottom of the League without a point on par with newly promoted Salernitana.