As Premier League fans, we have been truly blessed to have witnessed 500 games officiated by Mike Dean.

The celebrity ref has been marking the milestone after taking charge of Arsenal's recent draw with Sheffield United, a game which saw him honoured with a commemorative medal before kick-off.

It's a far cry from Dean's original career working in a chicken factory.

That would have seen him court a lot less controversy, at least, as he's never the far away from the spotlight.

Right now, the 51-year-old is feeling the wrath of Leicester City after failing to award a blatant handball in their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa - something which arguably cost the Foxes a trip to Wembley.

Like all those who referee at any level, Dean has inevitably made some big mistakes.

Some are forgivable, but others have left millions of fans fuming and indulging in conspiracy theories.

Take the time he appeared to celebrate Mousa Dembele's goal for Tottenham against Aston Villa in 2015, for example.

It took the Belgian just three minutes to open the scoring and 36,284 people inside White Hart Lane erupted - as did the referee.

Dean insists he was actually playing the advantage and got carried away.

Even so, it's never been forgotten and to celebrate his 500th game, BBC Sport made him watch the incident back.

"I wouldn't say it was a goal celebration, I was celebrating an advantage," he said.

"As you can see, but I kind of got carried away with the whole day really.

"It is a foul and I've played on, probably shouldn't have put my arms out but it was good."

Dean also reflected on his decision to book Sergio Aguero after his title-winning goal for Manchester City against QPR and his spat with Louis van Gaal. You can see the clip below:

Ever since that moment, some have accused Dean of being a Tottenham fan.

There's also a counter-conspiracy among the Spurs faithful that he now refuses to give them decisions because of that very rumour.

The reality is that he can be found on occasion in the stands at Tranmere Rovers going absolutely mad.

Football fans all have their opinion of him. But as he reaches a milestone very few Premier League referees have achieved, let's take a moment to celebrate Mike Dean. The man, the myth, the legend.

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