The Man City vs Newcastle referee appointed for Saturday’s early kick-off has been spotted by eagle-eyed viewers performing a mid-game gesture, with striking similarity to The Office’s famous ‘David Brent’ routine.
Simon Hooper is the official in charge of City‘s clash with Newcastle, and an opportunistic group of viewers have quickly turned his antics into a meme.
David Brent, the idiosyncratic, egotistic middle-manager devised by writer and comedian Ricky Gervais as the main character of The Office, is perhaps best-known for the infamous dance in season two.
Fans across Twitter have been quick to compare the routine to a rather unique ‘play-on’ gesture performed by referee Simon Hooper, who was trying to communicate there was no foul play when City defender Manuel Akanji appeared to grapple Callum Wilson to the floor.
Today’s official was seen with his arms flailing from side to side, which has prompted some truly comical posts on Twitter who were immediately reminded of the David Brent dance that is seemingly engrained into the British psyche.
@SoccerAM @rickygervais Simon Hooper doing his best David Brent impression mid-game! pic.twitter.com/pEtsGZZyor
— Martin Atkinson (@MGAtkinson) March 4, 2023
One user, @JoeThomas182, tweeted: “Simon Hooper letting out his inner David Brent.”
Elsewhere, another Tweet from @Jordan_J_Thomas read: “The ref in the Man City v Newcastle game just cracked out the David Brent dance in the middle of the pitch.”
Simon Hooper doing his best David Brent impression pic.twitter.com/vyT0wMjkwg
— Laura 🖤🤍 (@lspark_89) March 4, 2023
Manchester City lead Newcastle by two goals to nil at the time of writing, and in doing so temporarily move within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal, who go up against Bournemouth in North London at 3pm.
It also likely condemns Newcastle to a fifth league result without a win, seeing their grip on a potential Champions League spot loosen, with Tottenham and United moving ahead.
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