{"id":141961,"date":"2023-10-03T18:29:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T18:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity-hub.com\/?p=141961"},"modified":"2023-10-03T18:29:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T18:29:45","slug":"retired-referee-martin-atkinson-reveals-former-arsenal-star-tomas-rosicky-was-his-favourite-player-to-deal-with-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity-hub.com\/sport\/retired-referee-martin-atkinson-reveals-former-arsenal-star-tomas-rosicky-was-his-favourite-player-to-deal-with-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired referee Martin Atkinson reveals former Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky was his favourite player to deal with | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

RETIRED referee Martin Atkinson revealed Tomas Rosicky was his favourite player to deal with<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The former Premier League official made the claim after the former Arsenal star invited him to ref his testimonial in the Czech Republic in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

And Atkinson said Alan Stubbs was the toughest player he has officiated, with the Everton hardman \u201cscaring me to death\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Atkinson hung up his whistle at the end of the 2021\/22 season, after 17 years in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

He has many fond memories. But speaking at a Q&A in aid of North East mental health charity If U Care Share, the Prem whistler was asked who he enjoyed reffing most. His answer was Arsenal's former Czech playmaker.<\/p>\n

Rosicky, 42, arrived in North London from Borussia Dortmund in 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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His ten-year spell with the Gunners was hampered by a series of long-term injuries but he won two FA Cups before leaving for Sparta Prague in 2016 and retiring the next year aged 37. <\/p>\n

And Leeds-fan Atkinson, 52, said in 2022: \u201cI\u2019ve been lucky that I\u2019ve got on with the vast majority of players but one that stands out is Tomas Rosicky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always got on really well with him. We just pleasantly got on, not best mates or owt\u00a0like that but he was always really respectful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when he left Arsenal, when he retired eventually, an unknown email came through and it was from Sparta Prague asking if I will go out and referee his retirement game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou just never expect that and it was just a nice thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Atkinson, a former police officer, made his top-flight bow in the 2004\/05 season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And he named burly centre-back Stubbs as the toughest player to try and keep under control.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asked who he least enjoyed reffing, Atkinson said: \u201cAlan Stubbs at Everton.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would kick anything that moved, was hard as nails and scared me to death when I first got on.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just so tough to referee that it was, like, impossible. I learned a lot from that – you learn how to manage players.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RETIRED referee Martin Atkinson revealed Tomas Rosicky was his favourite player to deal with. The former Premier League official made the claim after the former Arsenal star invited him to ref his testimonial in the Czech Republic in 2018.\u00a0 And Atkinson said Alan Stubbs was the toughest player he has officiated, with the Everton hardman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRetired referee Martin Atkinson reveals former Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky was his favourite player to deal with | The Sun - Celebrity-hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/celebrity-hub.com\/sport\/retired-referee-martin-atkinson-reveals-former-arsenal-star-tomas-rosicky-was-his-favourite-player-to-deal-with-the-sun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Retired referee Martin Atkinson reveals former Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky was his favourite player to deal with | The Sun - Celebrity-hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RETIRED referee Martin Atkinson revealed Tomas Rosicky was his favourite player to deal with. 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