Mark Clattenburg has admitted his first taste of a Merseyside derby was the lowest point of his refereeing career, describing the 2007 clash between Everton and Liverpool as “a war” he was completely unprepared for.
The former Premier League official said the atmosphere and intensity at Goodison Park overwhelmed him, leading to what he now concedes was a chaotic display marked by critical errors.
Clattenburg, then just 32 and only a year into his top-flight career, confessed the experience left lasting scars and even prompted death threats in the aftermath.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said he had mistakenly believed the fixture would resemble the other high-profile derbies he had already officiated.
Mark Clattenburg revealed he wishes he could re-officiate the 2007 Merseyside Derby
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“There’s one game I wish I could referee again,” he said.
“I was a young referee. I was only one year into my Premier League career, but I had already been given Manchester United versus City and the North London derby the previous week.
"I was appointed to referee Everton-Liverpool at Goodison. I am not using this as an excuse, but I had never experienced that type of derby before. It was ferocious. This was a working-class derby, and I got it completely wrong.”
Liverpool, managed by Rafael Benitez, came from behind to defeat David Moyes’s Everton 2–1, but the scoreline told only part of the story.
Clattenburg sent off Tony Hibbert and Phil Neville, awarded Liverpool two penalties, and turned down a strong Everton appeal for one of their own in stoppage time.
Everton supporters accused him of being influenced by Steven Gerrard, after television cameras appeared to show the Liverpool captain speaking to him before he upgraded Hibbert’s yellow card to red.
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Mark Clattenburg believes he made many mistakes during the game at Goodison Park
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Clattenburg, though, insisted that perception was unfair.
“I sent off two Everton players. One, the Everton fans thought I changed my mind because of Steven Gerrard,” he said.
“He walked past the camera when I was changing from a yellow to a red card, but it was always a red card for Tony Hibbert. It looked like Gerrard said something to me and I had changed my mind. That obviously never happened. I also sent off Phil Neville for a handball on the line.”
Yet he admitted his most glaring mistake came in the closing moments.
"The worst mistake I made was near the end of the game," he admitted.
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"Jamie Carragher pulled down Joleon Lescott for an easy penalty.
"If I had given it, Everton had the chance to equalise. In the eyes of Everton, I had made three big errors – all the big decisions seemed to go in Liverpool’s favour.”
The fallout was immediate and severe.
“After the game, I received death threats. I didn’t referee an Everton game for six years afterwards,” he said. “I learnt a lot from that game – how to understand a match, how to balance the emotions of a big derby. The North London derby was a football match. This was a war. I lost control. I lost my ability to make decisions.”
Mark Clattenberg was not allowed to officiate games for Everton for six years
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Clattenburg later rebuilt his reputation, going on to officiate Champions League and European Championship finals. But he accepts that some fans never moved on.
“People only remember that one moment,” he said. “Football fans never forgive you. It doesn’t matter how many good decisions you go on to make.”