CHELSEA player, Diego Costa, said recently if he gave his opinion on English referees he would get a four or five match ban.

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager, says he is struggling to understand English referees’ interpretations of the Laws.

It might therefore surprise them to learn that English referee Mark Clattenburg has just been voted the best referee in the world by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

This body has for many years collected votes for the world’s top referee of the year, from selected editorial offices and experts from across 56 countries.

It was won twice, incidentally, by Howard Webb, in 2010 and 2013.

Clattenburg’s victory, however, was remarkable as he received more votes than the next two referees, Nicola Rizzoli of Italy and Viktor Kassai of Hungary, put together.

Another English referee is in the top 10, Martin Atkinson at eighth. England are the only country to have two referees in the top 20.

Clattenburg also won the Globe Soccer Award as Referee of the Year in which each football federation nominates one of their referees. Atkinson was, of course, nominated by UEFA.

It has been a remarkable year for Clattenburg. Previously his highest appointment was the Olympic final in 2012, but in 2016 he refereed the FA Cup final, Champions League final and European Cup final.

I have to say I enjoy watching him referee. His movement – he is so quick – his positioning, his anticipation, his body language, his signalling, all the things which make up a referee’s performance.

Like most of our Premier League referees, he is not averse to passing on his experience to lower placed referees. I attended a training session run by him a couple of years ago at the national conference, when I was lucky enough to have a conversation with him.

A pleasant, down to earth, talkative Geordie, who love his music but hates getting decisions wrong – and the best referee in the world.