Former Premier League official Mark Halsey retired from refereeing at the end of the 2012-13 season, with the incident taking place in his final campaign. He has claimed Liverpool fans sent him death threats after he sent off one of their players in a Premier League meeting with Manchester United. Halsey took charge of more than 250 games across more than a decade as a Premier League ref, handing out 27 red cards at a rate of close to one every 10 games. However, one of those reds in particular - shown to Jonjo Shelvey when the England international was on the Reds' books - led to a situation which he has described as "the worst it's ever got". Now, the long-retired official has shed more light on the reaction he received from fans of the Anfield club, as well as Liverpool's own response to the events.
"The worst it's ever got was back when I was refereeing, in particular it was a Liverpool v Man United game in 2012," said Halsey, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of its 5-A-Side bet on Chelsea v Liverpool. "I sent Jonjo Shelvey off in the first-half after he went in for a challenge with Jonny Evans. Liverpool went on to lose the match 2-1, and afterwards I received death threats towards me and my family, from Liverpool supporters. The police had to step in and thankfully they sorted it for me, and the club - to their credit - were fantastic in how they dealt with things. I got a lovely letter from Liverpool Football Club after it had all happened, condemning what their fans had done, which I really appreciated." Halsey, who has also spoken of a couple of "really bad" incidents on social media, also explained why he opted against taking time off after the Liverpool game in question. "I remember that game was on a Sunday afternoon, and then I was supposed to be refereeing a Southampton game on either the Tuesday or the Wednesday in the League Cup," he said. "I was asked if I wanted to be removed from that game, but I said no, because then they win, don't they? So, I went down there to referee the game, and had no problems. The PGMOL management were there at that game, and to be fair to them, they really do look after you when you're dealing with things like that."
Source: Mirror
