Mark Halsey recalled the time he told Rio Ferdinand to "f*** off" as he urged referees to engage with players more.
Former official Halsey, 62, worked in the Premier League from 1999 to 2013, having spent a number of years in the EFL before that. He certainly had his fair share of run-ins with players over the years.
He discussed one of them, with Manchester United legend Ferdinand, during an appearance on the Under The Cosh podcast after ex-Preston and Doncaster forward Chris Brown spoke about his hatred of referees who wave players away.
"That really annoys me," Halsey replied. "It’s important that referees have to engage with the players, you’ve got to engage with the players.
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"You can’t come across arrogant, [but] shop floor language goes on on the field of play. I’ve been told to f*** off many times.
"I remember Rio Ferdinand came running to me at Old Trafford, telling me to f*** off and I just turned around and said ‘you f*** off’. And he did. He was so surprised."
That prompted laughter in the room before Halsey continued: "But it’s not foul, abusive or insulting language, it’s shop floor language.
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"You hear far worse coming from youngsters out in the street or even in the crowd. You’ve got to have that, as long as it’s not using the language at you and it’s in the context of what’s going on in the game.
"That’s what happens, all the good referees use shop floor language. It’s the workplace, you're going out for 90 minutes, that is the shop floor, the workplace."
The standard of refereeing in the Premier League has come under repeated scrutiny just four games into the season – and Howard Webb is set to address some of the controversial VAR decisions in a programme airing on Sky Sports and TNT Sports tonight (September 6).
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