Ever the showman! Mike Dean filmed singing his own retirement song

Mike Dean has been filmed singing his own retirement song – written in tribute to the maverick referee upon his decision to step away from the pitch in May this year. 

The maverick referee called time on his career in the middle at the end of last season, bringing the curtain down on one of the more intriguing officiating careers, retiring to the far less public VAR room at Stockley Park. 

A previous guest on the That Peter Crouch Podcast, Dean became something of a fans favourite for many listeners with his tales of difficult players, run-ins with managers and his previous job working in a poultry factory. 

Appearing to perform in a branch of Sam’s chicken, perhaps on Merseyside where he resides, Dean himself took great pleasure in miming the song by talented musician Joel Stewart. 

With the shop workers behind him providing spotlights from their mobile phones, Dean jumped straight into an expert rendition of the song. 

‘Mike Dean, Mike Dean,’ he’s videoed miming. ‘The funniest ref we’ve ever seen. 

‘Mike Dean, Mike Dean,’ he continues. ‘The chicken-killing machine,’ he finishes, referencing his previous job in a poultry factory before he got his big break in refereeing. 

Known to have been a bit of a showman as a referee, Dean appeared to take great pleasure in singing the song for what was a captive audience. 

Notable moments in Dean’s career on-field include a number of ‘no-look’ red cards as well as celebrations for having successfully played an advantage that led to a goal. 

Peter Crouch and Chris Stark, co-hosts of the podcast that was initially on the BBC before moving across to Acast, were particular fans of Dean and his utmost honesty when appearing on their show over two years ago. 

Writing for Sportsmail in April this year, Crouch referenced how Dean’s story had instilled in him a ‘new found’ respect for referees when realising the toil he had gone through to reach the pinnacle of the game.  

‘Becoming aware of that slog, the sacrifices (of his time, not chickens) he made to reach the very top of his preferred profession gave me a newfound respect for referees,’ Crouch wrote. 

‘Mike’s blowing his last whistle, theatrically brandishing his last card — celebrating his last goal from an advantage! — in May and the Premier League will be worse for his absence.

‘He is a bit of a one-off in modern football. Sure, the product is polished but it lacks characters like Mike and that is a major bugbear of mine. Where are the guys who will happily chat to me for a night in a pub, on a podcast, about gutting poultry? The game’s gone!’