1) This is interesting. @HACKETTREF was asked to explain Mark Clattenburg's absence from Everton games between 2007 and 2012.

After telling everyone to look up the stats, he offered this incomplete list of some Everton games Clattenburg reffed.

So I looked up the stats. https://twitter.com/HACKETTREF/status/1319159295498477569

2) Before I get to them, let's present @HACKETTREF's list a bit more clearly:

04 v C. Palace
05 v Chelsea
07 v Arsenal
07 v Liverpool
12 v Aston Villa
13 v Soton
14 v Arsenal
14 v Man Utd
17 v Man City

KH mentions Clattenburg reffed just two games in 08/09. More on that later.

3) Worth noting here that @HACKETTREF has not attempted to explain the five-year absence.

And to be clear, Keith was the General Manager of the PGMOL between 2004 and 2009.

He absolutely knows why Clattenburg was not on Everton duty between 2007/08 and the end of his tenure.

4) Here's the complete list. I won't mention the specific games, but instead will list the number of games Clattenburg reffed Everton each season.

04/05 - 2
05/06 - 1
06/07 - 3
07/08 - 2
08/09 - 0
09/10 - 0
10/11 - 0
11/12 - 1
12/13 - 0
13/14 - 4
14/15 - 3
15/16 - 2
16/17 - 3

5) That middle section is quite interesting isn't it?

Here's another way to look at it:

04/05 to 07/08: 8 matches, average of 2 per season
07/08 to 12/13: 1 match, average of 0.2 per season
13/14 to 16/17: 12 matches, average of 3 per season

6) So what happened in 2007/08?

Everton 1-2 Liverpool

I'll spare the details (here's the Guardian's match report if you require one https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/oct/22/newsstory.sport3)

...but I'll summarise by saying Clattenburg's display was one of the most questionable of any in PL history, hence:

7) About one specific incident - Jamie Carragher's blatant foul on Joleon Lescott for what should have been a late penalty - David Moyes said:

"If you look at that and don't give a penalty kick you've got to question whether you can do the job."

He was charged by the FA.

8) A few days later, Moyes went further.

He was given a second charge and requested a personal hearing.

9) Claiming to know "referee's thoughts" and "what's really gone on" is very risky, but with the presence of a strong witness, Moyes felt justified.

And rightly so, apparently.

Six months later, the first charge was dismissed, and he was given no punishment for the second.

10) This is curious.

Whether Moyes was suggesting bias, incompetence, or anything more sinister, he has questioned a referee's integrity, suggested there was a "real story", and faced no sanction.

That seems unusually lenient from the FA.

11) Graham Bean of disciplinary consultancy service, Football Factors, worked on Moyes' behalf.

The PGMOL did not allow Bean to see the assessor's marking for Clattenburg's derby display, and chairman Peter Heard refused his request for a meeting.

Apparently this was unusual.

12) So what happened to Clattenburg? He stopped reffing Everton games, but kept getting other games (39 in 07/08 compared to 42 in 06/07).

After eight matches in his first four PL years, Clattenburg suddenly began a period which involved one Everton match in the next five years.

13) Incidentally, MC only reached double figures for red cards once.

04/05: 83y 4r
05/06: 81y 4r
06/07: 166y 3r
𝟬𝟳/𝟬𝟴: 𝟮𝟰𝘆𝟭𝟬𝗿
08/09: 0y 0r
09/10: 105y 5r
10/11: 123y 7r
11/12: 115y 8r
12/13: 104y 6r
13/14: 145y 6r
14/15: 172y 5r
15/16: 193y 7r
16/17: 105y 4r

14) The following season, 2008/09, was a completely anomalous one for Clattenburg. He reffed only two games, as KH pointed out:

"Season/08/09 Clatts refereed 2 games only."

What happened there then?

14) In August 2008, Clattenburg was suspended while the FA investigated his finances after the High Court wound up one of businesses with unpaid debt of nearly £60k.

Following claims Clattenburg had business debts of nearly £200k, the PGMOL dismissed him for breach of contract.

15) In February 2009, Clattenburg successfully appealed this. His lifetime ban was reduced to eight months and backdated to August 2008 - the date of his original suspension.

In May 2009, he was back in the PL but it'd be almost three years before he got another Everton game.

16) At the end of that season, KH stepped down from his role as General Manager of the PGMOL.

For the end of his time there, he was shadowed by Mike Riley who remains in the role today.

17) In 2012, when asked if he was consulted about the PGMOL ending Clattenburg's unexplained four-year hiatus from Everton games, Moyes said:

"Managers shouldn't make appointments. That's all I can say. We have instructions not to comment on officials before or after games".

18) That was Clattenburg's only Everton game in 2011/12. In 2012/13, he was back to having no Everton games.

In 2013/14 however, he was given FOUR Everton games, his highest ever.

That is of course the year after Moyes left Everton.

19) So…

- MC puts in a v questionable display
- DM is only warned for questioning MC’s integrity
- MC is taken off Everton games for 4 years
- MC is sacked for financial irregularity then reinstated
- KH leaves the PGMOL
- MC returns to a regular schedule when DM leaves Everton

20) The least we can say is that is a fascinating set of events which really should have been cleared up by now.

@HACKETTREF has already demonstrated he is not inclined to clear this up.

Hopefully, somebody - maybe Clattenburg himself - will fill in the blanks eventually.