Mike Dean's best & worst moments as he finally dished out his 100th PL red card

There have been plenty of famous whistleblowers throughout history. But from Deep Throat to Chelsea Manning, none of them come close to Mike Dean for sheer charisma.

On Tuesday night he handed out his 100th Premier League red card. That's more than any team in the top flight has ever received, with Everton coming closest in picking up 93.

No referee even comes near him. The next highest tally is 67, while Dean is also top of the charts for this season with 10 dismissals to his name. That's an absurd rate of 0.47 per game.

He is the man who has taken refereeing to new heights in the Premier League. And, more importantly, the fun that can be had with it.

Dean, from the Wirral, began his career in the Northern Premier League after starting to referee in 1985. He moved up to the Football League as a referee in 1997 before a rise to the top flight in 2000.

Dean's first red card predates the iPod.

His second, though, showed just what the top flight had on its hands.

It came 20 minutes into Charlton's win against Leicester in September 2001. Steve Brown tried to stop a Trevor Benjamin flick-on with his hands and managed to injure his leg as he landed.

Brown had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher — not that it stopped Dean from showing him a red card as he was taken away.

In typical Dean form, he then showed another to Leicester player, Junior Lewis, in the same game.

There have been plenty of other great moments involving the 50-year-old. During Brighton's game against Bournemouth in December he dismissed Lewis Dunk and commented: 'Off you pop.'

He also has a penchant for celebrating goals that come on the back of his good refereeing.

The most notorious example involved Spurs against Aston Villa, where he could be seen swinging his arms in the air as if he had just struck the ball into the bottom corner himself.

But he also managed to involve himself in one of the greatest Premier League moments of all time. When Sergio Aguero ran off to celebrate his winner against QPR, there was Dean, peeling away with the City players.

There have also been eye rolls galore and a slap on Adnan Januzaj's posterior during his 477-game spell in the Premier League.

More than anything, though, what really stands out from Dean is the way he points and gestures.

Everything is laced with the drama of Laurence Olivier, not least how he indicates that he has awarded a penalty.

Few moments are greater than when he blew up in the play-off final between Norwich and Middlesbrough, gesturing in a way that simply said, 'Welcome to the Premier League'.

If you're wondering whether Dean is biased against your team, then know the reality — he just likes sending people off. Chelsea have been shown nine reds by him, as have Manchester City, while Newcastle (7), Arsenal (6) and Spurs (5) all rank highly too.

Ashley Young's dismissal was the second red card he's received in the Premier League, both of them shown by Dean.

In fact, no player has ever been shown more than two reds by the referee. Andy Cole, Richard Dunne, Laurent Koscielny, Fernando Torres and Mike Williamson have all hit that mark too.

After such a landmark, Dean's next assignment shows his character too. He's taking charge of Birmingham against Leeds on Saturday in the Championship.

He might be the celebrity referee to top them all but Dean still knows how to muck in too. Here's to another 100.