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Sport

06th Aug 2017

Mark Clattenburg shocked a lot of people with appearance on BT Sport

Who knew?

Darragh Murphy

We’ve seen Mark Clattenburg on our TV screens literally hundreds of times over the years.

You’d imagine you’d know quite a bit about the veteran referee but, as it turns out, you might not know the first thing about Clattenburg.

Clattenburg stepped away from the Premier League last season to take up a position as Saudi Arabia’s Head of Refereeing.

And he’s earned a shiny new television gig too.

Clattenburg appeared on BT Sport on Sunday, when he was tasked with offering up his refereeing expertise for the in-studio panel during the Community Shield game between Premier League champions Chelsea and FA Cup holders Arsenal.

The match had plenty of talking points for Clattenburg to cast his eye over, including an incident which saw Willian booked for simulation when subsequent viewing suggested there was slight contact.

Viewers, accustomed to seeing Howard Webb in front of several screens, were surprised to see Clattenburg in Webb’s seat, giving his opinion.

And they were even more shocked when he opened his mouth and a Geordie accent came out.

Most supporters hadn’t seen Clattenburg give an interview before so were astounded to hear what he actually sounded like.

Not only that, but the tone of his voice did not exactly feature the booming authority that fans might have expected.

https://twitter.com/CusackOscar/status/894198423800479744

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