Mike Dean will referee Newcastle United’s next Premier League game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday (8pm kick-off).
United aim to put further distance between themselves and the bottom three with a win over Wolves and it has been announced this week that Wirral whistler Dean will be in charge of proceedings at St. James’ Park.
The 52-year-old is perhaps English football’s best-known referee, having been a top flight official for over 20 years.
He has been taking charge of matches for 36 years but cut his teeth in the Northern Premier League, before rising to run the line in the Football League in the mid-1990s.
He was promoted to the Select Group of Referees in 2000s and has been a staple of every Premier League campaign since, while he also spent ten years on FIFA’s list of international referees between 2003 and 2013.
The game between United and Nuno Espririto Santo’s men will be the first time Dean has overseen a game invoving Newcastle so far this term. He only took charge of two Magpies fixtures last term - the trip to Tottenham Hotspur and the visit of Manchester United – but both ended in 1-0 wins for Steve Bruce’s side.
Dean has issued a total of 128 yellow cards across 32 games in 2020/21, as well as four red cards.
Ian Hussin and Darren Cann will assist Dean on Saturday night, with Andrew Madley acting as fourth official.
Kevin Friend will be the VAR at the weekend, assisted by Andrew Halliday.