Classic footage has been re-shared showing a number of high-profile Premier League referees attempting Soccer AM’s famed Crossbar Challenge.
The popular weekly segment, which traditionally saw the members of a squad each attempting to hit the crossbar, featured the likes of Chelsea, West Ham and Newcastle United.
One week, however, Soccer AM decided to mix things up – and involve top level referees.
That’s right. We saw the likes of Mike Dean, Peter Walton and Dermot Gallagher taking the challenge on – with mixed results.
In the video, which was posted to Reddit but originally found on YouTube, Graham Poll – whose officiating career spanned over 1,500 games – was first to step up.
After a long run-up, he ended up spearing the ball towards the corner flag, before holding his head in his hands.
Then it was the turn of Mike Dean, kitted out in gloves. The Wirral-born referee’s effort actually looked on target for a brief few seconds, before bouncing just short of the bar.
Phil Dowd and Steve Bennett then produce similar efforts to Dean, but again see the ball fall narrowly short on each occasion.
It’s then Peter Walton’s time. The current BT Sport referee analyst went on to slip as he made contact with the ball.
Chris Foy’s effort was struck well but with not enough distance, before Dermot Gallagher got the power but not the direction.
Closing out the clip was Mark Clattenburg, who probably came closest of the referees who took part but, like numerous others, saw the ball bounce below the goalline.
Here’s the full original clip of the officials in action, posted by YouTube user Ant Canavan:
Who would love to see this re-enacted with current Premier League referees?
Featured Image Credit: Soccer AM / BSkyB / Sky Sports