Since stepping away from his career as a football referee, Mike Dean has taken on various television roles, showing up as a football enthusiast in the crowd and sharing his insights as a TV pundit and analyst.

Next week, the 57-year-old is set to explore a different sport, but in a capacity that might surprise you.

Dean is heading to Malaga, not to play golf, but to serve as a caddie on the Ladies European Tour.

“I’m involved in Soccer Saturday each week with the guys, which is really enjoyable. On Sundays, I cover select matches for Sky,” he explained.

“I also caddie on the women’s golf tour, which I find quite interesting. I’ll be heading to Malaga for an event in the coming weeks.”

Mike Dean has revealed that he will caddying on the Ladies European Tour later this month

Dean has caddied on the tour before – having done so for Australian Whitney Hillier in the past

The 57-year-old is best known for being a Premier League referee but caddies part-time 

“Additionally, I’m passionate about horse racing and have launched my own syndicate, which has been gaining momentum,” he added.

The tournament he is referring to is the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana at the Real Club Guadalhorce Golf in Malaga across November 27-30.

It’s unclear who he will caddie for at present but this isn’t the first time Dean has done this role.

He’s been on the bag for Welsh golfer Lydia Hall before as well as Australia’s Whitney Hillier – witnessing her once hit a hole-in-one in Spain during the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open in September 2019.

Dean didn’t start life as a caddie post-refereeing though, in fact juggling the two roles during the latter years of his main job when he could in the off-season.

After retiring from refereeing, Dean became a VAR official but soon changed his mind after feeling detached from what he had known beforehand.

‘I finished refereeing in 2022 and got asked to be a full-time VAR which I agreed to,’ he told The Overlap Fan Debate.

‘What people don’t realise sometimes as a ref that you can still be involved physically by being a referee one week, a fourth official the day after and a VAR the week after – so you’re always involved. You’ve still got to feel of what’s going on with the pitch.

After retiring from refereeing, Dean became a VAR official but soon quit after feeling detatched

‘But when you’re sat in an office block with a TV in front you haven’t got the feeling of the game, you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know the temperature of the game. It’s such a hard job to do.

‘The first two or three months of doing the role I loved it and then it was horrible and I’d be the first to say, I wasn’t the best at it. The terminology wasn’t the best, like describing decisions to referees on the picture.

‘I also used to try and have a laugh and joke in the office to keep myself switched on but you’re not supposed to speak – but I never shut up when I was a referee.

‘I was trying to keep switched on doing the VAR but we were then told that everything’s going to get recorded. If clubs, which they can do now, requested the communication between the referee and VAR at any time of the game and we’re just having a chat and not using the proper terminology then I knew I couldn’t do it. I was awful.

‘It ended up becoming a 50/50 decision as they knew I didn’t want to continue and they thought I wasn’t good for the job I kind of moved away from it. So I just went to coach younger referees at the Northern Premier League to keep myself involved.’

Dean first got into caddying having simply enquired because he is a keen golfer who wanted to help out.

In September 2019, he caddied for Hillier on the Ladies European Tour as she hit a hole-in-one

The Premier League referee was visibly delighted with Hillier after her incredible drive

Speaking in 2023 to the DP World Tour, he said: ‘I just enquired about it about six or seven years ago to try and help out and got a couple of jobs early doors. I try and do two or three jobs a year if I can.

‘Each job is different but I quite enjoy doing the caddying so it’s nice to come out and help once in a while.’

However, Dean stressed two years ago that being a caddie would not be a permanent career changing when asked if he would do it full-time.

‘Not for me, no. I just enjoy doing it every now and again,’ he continued at the time.