Three of the most prominent referees of the last decade have retired in recent weeks. Gianluca Rocchi from Italy, Milorad Mažić from Serbia and Mark Clattenburg from England have all ended their long and brilliant careers. Three referees who besides for a long time belonging to the very top-class of their profession, all stood for very distinct things on the pitch and will (and in the case of two - already have) be sorely missed in refereeing.
It's difficult to find exactly the right words, but two should be enough in the most succinct manner: thank you! There are more in this post which hopefully do justice to their three remarkable careers.
We start then with the man most recently involved in UEFA matches.
We hope you enjoy these short reflections on their long careers!
Gianluca Rocchi
Gianluca Rocchi ended his career Saturday before last in the Juventus - Roma match in the last round of Serie A fixtures for this season. A very emotional (and at moments, very funny!) evening for the entrepreneur from Florence!
He crowned an excellent international career with two fantastic achievements in his last years as a referee: three matches at World Cup 2018 and the Europa League final Chelsea - Arsenal in 2019. A nuance of his career is despite belonging to the UEFA Elite Category since 2010, he was yet often behind his compatriot, the star of 2010s refereeing, Nicola Rizzoli. If Rizzoli's premier event-management style was a look to the present and the future, then Rocchi was something of a hark back to the past.
Rocchi distinguished himself even in the modern era of FIFA officiating as a brilliant law-enforcer with his sharp and consistent style which AIA, UEFA and FIFA could depend on in the most important matches. It is testament to Rocchi that he reached everything that he did in his career, especially cognisant of when he did it. He showed that the value of courage is still appreciated at the highest level of world football, and that not only top-class managers like his compatriots Pierluigi Collina and aforementioned Nicola Rizzoli can arouse the respect and gratitude of football actors the world over.
UEFA Elite refereeing is visibly worse for Gianluca Rocchi's loss.
Thank you Mr. Rocchi!
Milorad Mažić
Milorad Mažic, it was announced Wednesday just gone, became the head of the refereeing operation at the Cyprus Football Association, thus ending his career as a match official. His last match was the Jiangsu Suning - Tianjin Tianhai game, in Chinese Super League, where he spent his last year as a referee. The coronavirus pandemic forced the CFA's hand vis-à-vis foreign referees; Mažić and Clattenburg were to retire.
Mažić's supercilious leadership style, hectic gestures and brilliant movement combined with a lenient approach and two excellent assistant referees, Milovan Ristić and Dalibor Đurđević gave him a very characteristic style that could succeed in even the most intense matches. His rise was remarkable too - in the same (2012/32) season did he have his Champions League début than he refereed a Europa League semifinal - all whilst being only in the Elite Development Category - and despite not being on the pre-list he attended Brazil 2014. He went also to EURO 2016 and World Cup 2018, and in the interceding period refereed the Champions League final Real Madrid - Liverpool the same year as his second World Cup.
That being said, Mažić stood for something more than excellent refereeing in his own nation (as administrators of The Third Team and Law 5 alike can stand testament to!); he was a form of national pride in Serbia. His presence in the top football matches both in Europe and over the world and brilliantly touched on a lot of feeling in Serbia and their perceived place in the global order and justifiably aroused huge respect from his compatriots, even whilst handling the ultra-polarising Večiti derbi at home.
All sociological case studies aside - Milorad Mažić leaves behind an excellent career with a lot of fantastic memories for refereeing fans.
Thank you Mr. Mažić!
Mark Clattenburg
Without any doubt, Mark Clattenburg was the referee of the year 2016 and arguably the referee of the second part of the last decade. He ended his career last Wednesday with the announcement that he was to head the Hellenic Football Federation's refereeing operation. At any rate at all, refereeing the FA Cup final, Champions League final and the EURO 2016 final all in a matter of weeks was a simply formidable achievement - but perhaps that is not even the most notable achievement, so much as his simply amazing manner on the pitch.
Clattenburg certainly knew what it was like to come back from rock bottom. Sacked as a professional referee by PGMOL in 2008 before he won back his place in court, conflicts with referee managers in Englandm accused of racism during the Chelsea - Manchester United game in 2012, arousing mass media attention for tattoos on his right arm (which he always kept covered by his long-sleeved shirts, by the way, and sought no recognition for them) - Clatts can certainly list mental fortitude amongst his attributes, and not only on the pitch.
But more than his de jure achievements, it was Clattenburg's manner on the pitch that allowed him to stand out in his games. Even besides his brilliant physical dynamism and approach to his games, he was, and probably still is, the maître when it comes to managing players on the pitch by using mimics, gestures and presence. Every single referee in the world can learn something from him, it's not easy to state just how amazing Clatts was in his presence on the pitch.
Anything but a yes man, Mark Clattenburg showed that you can stand out from the rest and reach the summit in refereeing, as he did both as a leader on the pitch and with his amazing achievements in 2016.
Thank you, Mr. Clattenburg!
Law 5 would like to take this opportunity to wish Gianluca Rocchi, Milorad Mažić and Mark Clattenburg all the best with their future endeavours in refereeing and beyond.
Below, some video tributes:
Absolutely love Clatts. What a fantastic referee he was!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely mastermind of refereeing. Great performance in Milano, in Saint Denis and on Wembley. Great, I love on which way that guy do his job. Communication, movement, signals,significant sound of whistle. All the best.
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DeleteIncredible that Clattenburg did not attend a World Cup... he would have been a star in Russia!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with you
DeleteIt was his decision to leave the scene! So ask him why he did that if you are so astonished.
DeleteI believe that after he achieved what he perceived as the ultimate success as a referee, he started to think more about financial side, which is completely understandable. Also I think that he opened the doors for many other referees to officiate games on the middle east or in other leagues, and earn good money.
DeleteThe PGMOL weren't treating him right. He'd just achieved 3 finals in 1 season and they were still giving the top games to Atkinson and Marriner instead of him. I don't blame him for leaving at all. Just wished he'd hung in there till Russia.
DeleteNice article!
ReplyDeleteOn the other side I would like to comment some about Milorad. Great referee, with such best physical performance in Elite Cat of Uefa, and Fifa also. His game at WC 2018, Brazil Beligum is the best officiated at that WC. Exclude that, Uefa Supercup, CL FINAL, SO MANY SERBIAN CUP FINALS, ETERNAL DERBY 9 TIMES , ONE OF GOATS IN REFEREENG.
ReplyDeleteGianluca was solid referee, with two UEFA FINALS, some interesting matches in CL, WC. GOOD CARER, IF WE KNOW THAT HE WAS ALWAYS IN SHADOW OF RIZZOLI.
ReplyDeleteGianluca Rocchi was for most of his international career in the shadow of Rizzoli, indeed this was for sure a big "problem" for him. He couldn't be 100% free in getting big appointments. Only after the retirement of Rizzoli, Rocchi achieved more. Sad to say, but that's true. He could have achieved more, but I think he can ba absolutely satisfied with Europa League and Super Cup final at UEFA level. It is very difficult to make the "Triplete".
ReplyDeleteMazic: I remember a game of his early period, 2011, Europa League, Vaslui - Lazio. I was more than impressed by his skill to manage players. Without doing anything, difficult to explain in other words, he was able to keep everything under control. A very particular style you can't find in other referees. Really sorry for the bad period during WC 2014, but then he recovered and he had still excellent years. A talent.
Clattenburg: I can be very short here, at a certain time of his career, I was so admired that I thought he could have done EVERYTHING on the pitch, no matter what, I would have always accepted that... fantastic, for sure, there aren't other words. Collina was very proud of him, Champions League final in Milan and EURO 2016 were the pinnacle. A pity that he decided to retire after that.
Great text, Mikael, and three referees who, in the last decade, have left a deep impact in the world of football referees. Each of these three musketeers had something specific; however, there are several things that make Milorad Mažić to stand beyond doubt over all of them. Why?
ReplyDeleteIf you become a FIFA referee from a small, economically unessential Serbia at the age of 37, and achieve this kind of success, it has incomparably greater specific weight. He was close to referee the EURO 2016 final, but Clatts won it; he was close to referee the World Cup final in Russia, but Croatia was in the final. Perhaps, it should be added that he is the only referee who was declared the best in two countries - Serbia and China. This further confirms his superiority of knowledge of the football game, to accept diversity of mentalities, and to have a great professionalism that adorned him. He coped with huge pressures in Serbia and never succumbed. He brought a specific style to the football refereeing - his physical fitness and style are for me a model of what a modern top referee should look like. One piece of information that I accidentally found: Prof. Werner Helsen also controlled him in China and was fascinated - Mažić's (47) fitness performance was better than that of far younger referees.
I have no doubt that both Mažić and Clatts will succeed in their new roles, and that this is a sign that UEFA and FIFA should count on them in the future.
I can’t agree more!
DeleteFor the people outside of Serbia sometimes is difficult to understand situation in Serbian football. Everything here is divided on two parts: Crvena zvezda and Partizan, not only in sports (all sports) but in politics too. Zvezda is bigger club, with more fans, more successful in the history, but has no political support from late 90s till 2014/15. Partizan had it. Partizan was pushed by the politicians, had more money and support from football association. That caused lot of conflicts between clubs and fans and later made lot of pressure on the referees. For every mistake and “mistake” (the list of “mistakes” is enormous throughout the years, believe me), referees were crucified in the media, by the fans, club officials... They were under enormous pressure from many sides in every match in the championship that played Partizan or Zvezda. You can imagine how was it like in Eternal derby (Večiti derbi). And than came Mažić right grom now where, with his unique style and approach, charisma and was the only referee that was respected by (almost) everyone. I don’t remember that he made single one crucial mistake in 14 Eternal derby matches (both in Serbian cup and championship) he whistled. You couldn’t here almost a single voice that he is Partizan’s or Zvezda’s referee. And in interviews he sad several times that is much harder to officiate that match, than to whistle e.g. Barcelona-Juventus in CL knockout phase. So, when the pressure was the biggest, conflicts were at their extreme and where Serbian football, due to long economic crises was at very low level, he was the only “bright point”, a man to admire! And I can agree that he was a national pride in football for years. We couldn’t look forward to our clubs or national team successes (Serbian national team missed several biggest competitions and our clubs were unable to qualify for CL for many years and reaching only a few EL somewhere from 2008-2018). So we were happy for Milorad’s (and his team) success and became their fans. It is very unique that between Zvezda and Partizan one referee has lot of his own fans! Media loved him also, he is highly educated person.
I believe if Mazic would be now 35, starting his big career, he would have much easier position. There are tensions between the clubs and fans, of course, but economic situation in Serbia is much better (even in this corona tragedy), both clubs have good teams, Zvezda played 2 times in a row CL beating some big names that were miles away from us for the decades, and Partizan played EL, so they earned respectful money not only to survive, but to buy some very good players. So, things are going better and that should mean better position for the refs, too. We will see how it will go with the refs here, we have several interesting names (Srdjan Jovanovic, Novak Simović who already officiated several derbies, Lazar Lukic...). It’s a pity that Mažić isn’t there to help them progress. It’s a pity also for Ristić and Djurdjević that are not refereeing at the biggest European level anymore, because they are still far the best ARs in Serbia.
I wish Mr. Mažić all the best in his life and professional career and I hope one day he will be back in Serbian football and became a head of our referee organization!
Sorry, but you missed the point. When they are interested, in this context, Crvena Zvezda or Partizan. Also, Jovanović, Simović and Lazar Lukić (!)? Please don't be ridiculous. We won't have Mazic for long.
DeleteI want to say thank you to Milorad Mazic for being one of the most impressing referees I ever saw... A friend of mine said about him: He us one of those few refs where you never know what happens next.
ReplyDeleteTrue, because he was modern and conservative same time: Modern in his approach on the pitch, clear but with big empathy, but conservative in his philosophy of never doing any compromise in just whistling what he saw, whatever that meant for the game... The best thing about him follows : He saw almost everything.
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