On a Monday night in early May last year, Leicester clinched the Premier League title for the 2015/16 season. Though, it was not a day on which they played. The crucial result came at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea drew 2-2 with Spurs.
Spurs were ahead 2-0 at half-time in what was a robustly fought game. Referee Mark Clattenburg showed Spurs players nine yellow cards in the game, a Premier League record for a single team.
Speaking on NBC's Men in Blazers podcast, Clattenburg revealed he went into the match with a gameplan, one which would ensure the headlines were about Spurs rather than him.
There's one game in particular, which was the Battle of Stamford Bridge, it was Chelsea vs Tottenham and the famous year that Leicester won the title. It was theatre. I went in with a game plan that I didn't want Tottenham Hotspur blaming Mark Clattenburg that they were going to lose the title.
It should have been three red cards to Tottenham. I allowed them to self-destruct so all the media, all the people in the world went: 'Tottenham lost the title.'
If I sent three players off from Tottenham, what are the headlines? 'Clattenburg cost Tottenham the title.' It was pure theatre that Tottenham self-destructed against Chelsea and Leicester won the title.
Clattenburg says that looking back now, it was a game aided by his refereeing style.
I helped the game. It certainly benefited the game by my style of refereeing.
Some referees would have played by the book; Tottenham would have been down to seven or eight players and probably lost and they would've been looking for an excuse.
But I didn't give them an excuse, because my gameplan was: Let them lose the title.
