‘I hate Sunderland’: Premier League referee on ‘bias and love’ for Newcastle United

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has reaffirmed his love for Newcastle United, as well as his hate for Sunderland.

The referee, who spent 13 years overseeing matches in the top flight, recently appeared on The Footballer's Football Podcast with Magpies striker Callum Wilson.

Wilson features on the show alongside West Ham United's Michail Antonio and presenter Rickie Haywood-Williams.

On this week's episode, Mark Clattenburg was featured as a guest to talk about some big referring decisions from last weekend.

When musing over whether an early whistle prevented Wilson from a chance to score, Clattenburg first reminded listeners of his biases.

He said: "I'm probably a bit biased because I hate Sunderland, so I love Newcastle. I'm a Newcastle fan."

The former referee went on to share his frustration at match official Graham Scott blowing for a high foot against Wilson before the Newcastle man had the chance to shoot - a sentiment shared by manager Eddie Howe and Magpies legend Alan Shearer.

Clattenburg continued: "What frustrates me, referees always hide behind decisions. If you score an overhead kick, a worldie goal and it misses the head by a millimetre, everyone goes what a great goal.

"You [Wilson] pulled the ball down, it must be more than a few centimetres away, but because he's blown the whistle it can't go to VAR. The only thing I'd say is probably the goalkeeper would've saved it if the whistle hadn't gone... you said it went right in the corner, I'm not so sure.

"When you hear the whistle you relax. If you hadn't heard the whistle you'd have hit it row Z!"