11 months ago
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Mark Clattenburg was known for keeping football’s biggest stars in line, but now the former referee is making an unlikely return to officiating.
The 48-year-old returns to TV screens on Saturday night as one of three referees as the iconic show 'Gladiators' kicks off its new reboot on BBC.
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For Clattenburg, it will be far cry from keeping Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in check during a successful 11-year professional career.
His accomplishments include refereeing the FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester United in 2016.
Just weeks later he was handed the honour of officiating Real Madrid’s Champions League final win over neighbours Atletico in Milan before going on to whistle the Euro 2016 final between Portugal and France.
Clattenburg retired from refereeing in 2017 after a stint in Saudi Arabia as the country’s head of refereeing.
But the County Durham native is bracing himself for a return to the legendary 90s show which will be hosted by Bradley Walsh and son Charlie.
He will star alongside some of the UK's fittest athletes, including ex-Olympians and bodybuilders.
“I loved watching it as a child, it was one of those iconic shows,” Clattenburg told talkSPORT.
“What was great was when I was asked last year to be a part of it and I was like ‘yeah, of course I’ll be a part of it to replace such a legend in [ex-Gladiators referee] John Anderson’.
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“I thought, let’s do this. What we’ve tried to do is keep it as authentic as possible regarding the refereeing side of it. However, you’ll see the gladiators are bigger, stronger. The contestants are fearless.
“We’ve built some new games in as well but you’ll see the iconic ones like The Duel, but we’ll see some new games like The Ring which is bringing some good excitement to it.
“I’m sure people on a Saturday night will absolutely love the show.”
Clattenburg’s time officiating in the Premier League and Champions League came before the introduction of VAR.
But even with his refereeing hat on, Clattenburg admits last weekend’s FA Cup third-round ties were a breath of fresh air without the use of technology.
He added: “I enjoyed the weekend’s cup matches without the use of VAR so hopefully without the use of VAR on Gladiators, people will enjoy it.”
