Mike Dean and Wayne Rooney have both revisited the final day of the 2011/12 Premier League season, when Manchester City dramatically beat Manchester United to the title
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has added fuel to Wayne Rooney‘s conspiracy theory surrounding Manchester City‘s dramatic 2012 title triumph. In a moment that will live long in the memory, the title was wrenched from Manchester United‘s grasp that year in the dying embers of the final game, thanks to that Sergio Aguero goal.
Dean, who was the man in charge of that historic match, has now, for the first time, revealed that there were elements of Queens Park Rangers‘ performance against City that surprised him.
Rooney was a part of the United team who were waiting on the pitch to be crowned champions after winning at Sunderland before City’s two stoppage-time goals.
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In the years since, he has voiced scepticism over the manner in which QPR conceded two late goals, insisting it was ‘strange’ and that it ‘doesn’t sit right’ with him. And now Dean has admitted he can’t explain why City were given the ball back immediately after Mario Balotelli‘s goal pegged it back to 2-2.
“It was one of those games, as all the referees that week, when the appointments came out, we all wanted that game,” he said on The Overlap Fan Debate. “I couldn’t believe I had the game, to get the game, the stakes and how it went.
“We always knew United were going to beat Sunderland. The way it transpired, we all thought City would win, and it went the wrong way.
“What was strange about it, we allude to the end of the game, but once QPR found out they were safe, I spoke to Clint Hill about it. Once they knew they were safe, Jamie Mackie was on the pitch celebrating while the game was going on.
“They make it 2-2 and they just kick it back, and we were like, ‘what’s going on, why are they giving the ball back straightaway?’ I said [that] in the earpiece.
“It was a strange one. To kick off and give the ball straight back to them.
“Neil Swarbrick, the fourth official, said, ‘Keep switched on, something is going to happen.’ You just knew something was going to happen; you could just tell.
“But I still can’t get my head around why they kicked the ball straight back. I just couldn’t… I don’t know.”
Rooney, who was alongside Dean when he made the admission on Tuesday, said: “They had loads of ex-City and Liverpool players in the team, I know Joey tried his best, but Djibril Cisse came out and said he was celebrating with City after it.”
Back in April, United’s all-time leading scorer also said: “Obviously that was a tough one that, but again, didn’t Paddy Kenny turn the ball in, two goals, QPR knew they were safe, and City got it to 2-2, then they just boot the ball back to them.
“They had (Djibril) Cisse on the pitch, Joey Barton got sent off for acting stupid. Who else was it, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nedum Onuoha diving about?”
Cisse, however, hit back at Rooney’s claim that QPR ‘rolled over’ just last month, saying: “I was celebrating with Samir Nasri, my friend of 15 years. I didn’t care about Man City – I was just happy for him and relieved that we stayed up.
“If we’d wanted them to win, we would’ve let them score 4-0 or 5-0, but we didn’t. We fought hard, and we had a strong team out there. It wasn’t our fault United lost the title. They dropped points all season.”
Ex-City star Barton also recently said that Rooney’s ‘conspiracy theories were untrue’.
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
