ICONIC referee Mark Clattenburg hilariously recalled the time a CHICKEN invaded the pitch during one of his Premier League games.
After the Anfield cat came the Blackburn chicken, who appeared during a relegation dogfight at Ewood Park in 2012.
A chicken was released on the pitch during Blackburn’s crucial Premier League survival match against Wigan in May 2012.
It wasn’t a prank either but a protest against then-club owners Venky’s, an Indian poultry company that specialises in chicken meat processing.
The bird was wearing a Blackburn flag as a cape with a note tied to it that read: “Out”.
The chicken strolled on the pitch early in the first half prompting Clattenburg to blow his whistle.
And it left a mark on Clattenburg who recollected the hilarious moment to a new generation of footie fans 13 years later.
The 50-year-old told the RoversXtra podcast: “I remember doing Blackburn vs Wigan and it was a Monday night game.
“There was a big protest against the Venky’s and the ball was the other end, and the assistant was at the other end.
“He was shouting ‘stop the game’. ‘Stop the game’.
“I was thinking ‘stop the f***ing game, what’s he on about?’ There’s nothing wrong, there’s no free-kick play on.
“But he said ‘stop the game the game there’s a f***ing chicken on the pitch’.
“I went ‘f*** off man’. A Premier League game you know. So I turned around and there was Paul Robinson chasing a chicken around the pitch live on Sky.”
But Clattenburg got it slightly wrong – the chicken was actually chased and caught in the goal net by Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi and Blackburn’s Yakubu.
After play resumed, Blackburn, who were once Premier League champions in 1995, were relegated to the Championship after losing 1-0 to the Latics.
And just to rub in their rivals’ misfortune, Burnley fans commissioned a plane to carry the message of “In Venkys we trust” through the dark skies over Ewood Park.
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