What really happened in the 19 minutes Mike Dean didn't blow his whistle?

 

Nineteen minutes. That’s how long Mike Dean went at the start of a Premier League match without blowing his whistle.

In his 23-year career as a top-flight referee, Merseyside-born Dean had built up a reputation for being a bit unorthodox. Whether it’s his over-enthusiastic arm signals while pointing to the penalty spot, or running with his arms aloft when his advantage led to a Mousa Dembele goal for Tottenham in 2015, Dean has become one of the most divisive figures in Premier League history.

“There used to be games we used to have, as a laugh, we used to say, ‘Right, we’ll kick off now, right. See how long we can go without blowing a whistle.’”

To some who were already aware of Dean’s unconventional, sometimes eccentric nature, the comment would not have come as a surprise. To others, including supporters on social media, the statement appeared to raise a more serious question: how could a referee deliberately go for a prolonged period without blowing his whistle during a Premier League match?

Fans have identified the match between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United at the Hawthorns in 2016 as a possible example. West Brom won 1-0 against ten-man United thanks to a second-half goal from Salomon Rondon.

It was the sort of unremarkable opening passage of a Premier League game that would ordinarily have disappeared into history until Dean's recent revelation.

From the first blow to start the match, Dean did not blow his whistle again until the 19^th minute, when a high foot from Daley Blind caught Rondon in the face on the edge of the United penalty area – a clear foul and finally a reason to intervene.

But context is important here. It was a very slow start to the match – with a lot of overhit passes and clean tackles. On the face of it, 19 minutes without a whistle sounds remarkable. Watch the footage back, though, and it becomes considerably less extraordinary. There are a few “borderline” incidents inside those first 19 minutes where Dean could reasonably have opted to intervene. For example, West Brom’s Craig Dawson appeared to climb on Anthony Martial as he attempted a header after eight minutes – but Martial did not go to ground, which would have made the decision easier for the man in the middle.

Similarly, Dean played advantage on a couple of occasions: the visitors’ Ander Herrera was clipped by Stephane Sessegnon but the referee waved play on as the Red Devils were still in possession, and as Dawson was the victim of a late challenge by Martial, Sessegnon gained possession and the commentator, Jon Champion, even praised the “good advantage” played by Dean.

There were a few other minor incidents, including Blind’s clearance appearing to strike Sessegnon’s arm, although there were no significant appeals. Rondon also appealed half-heartedly after being clipped by Chris Smalling. Then, after 18 minutes and 50 seconds, came the first clear foul from Blind.

Below is a list of nine moments where Dean had a decision to make inside the first 19 minutes.

 

Timestamp	Offence	Mike Dean’s decision	Assessment
0:54	Potential Jesse Lingard handball – no real appeals	Play on	Correct
8:30	Craig Dawson holds onto Anthony Martial as he tries to direct header towards goal – ball goes wide	Goal kick – no foul by Dawson	Borderline – depends on if there was enough contact
10:23	Darren Fletcher catches Ander Herrera late as he goes to clear – no real appeals as possession was retained by Man United	Play on	Correct
10:46	Chris Smalling catches Salomon Rondon as he has his back to goal – Rondon the only player appealing half-heartedly	Play on	Correct – not much contact
16:16	Ander Herrera clipped by Stephane Sessegnon, Anthony Martial immediately tackled by Craig Dawson	Advantage, then play on once Dawson had the ball	Debatable – free kick arguably warranted as advantage was lost
16:31	Stephane Sessegnon is clipped by Ander Herrera as he tries a one-two with Craig Dawson but loses the ball to Marcos Rojo two seconds later	Play on	Debatable – free kick arguably warranted as advantage was lost
16:36	Daley Blind’s clearance appears to strike Stephane Sessegnon’s arm, no appeals	Play on	Correct
18:12	Craig Dawson wiped out by Anthony Martial, Stephane Sessegnon picks up the ball but his cross is blocked. Commentators: “Mike Dean did well in not giving free kick, good refereeing”	Advantage, then didn’t give a foul once Sessegnon’s cross was blocked	Borderline – could have given a foul when Sessegnon lost possession
18:50	Daley Blind catches Salomon Rondon with a high foot	Foul	Correct – clear foul

 

 

After penalising Blind on the 19-minute mark, Dean became much more active with his whistle, creating a stop-start game for the following ten minutes, before settling down somewhat until half time.

The first player caught offside was West Brom’s Gareth McAuley on 22 minutes. Then came two quick-fire bookings for Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata: the first for preventing a free-kick, the second for needlessly tripping Darren Fletcher as the former United player tried to break away. Both are yellow card offences, and suddenly the game has changed and West Brom now have the numerical player advantage.

The more you watch the footage, the more misleading the phrase “19 minutes without blowing his whistle” becomes.

Dean wasn't absent from the game. He was constantly making decisions – most of those were decisions not to intervene.

So did Dean actually go 19 minutes without intervening, or did he simply go 19 minutes without needing to stop play?

We went looking for Dean’s now-infamous ‘whistle game’ – but what we found was a reminder that an absence of whistles does not necessarily mean an absence of refereeing.