Clattenburg is widely regarded as one of the best referees to have emerged from England in recent seasons.
The 45-year-old’s journey as a knight of the whistle saw him take charge of the 2016 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, 2016 FA Cup final game between Manchester United and Crystal Palace and the EURO 2016 final between France and Portugal.
Clattenburg spent 13 years as a Premier League referee and it is no surprise four of the five names he mentioned plied their trade in the English top flight.
Former Liverpool and Manchester City winger Craig Bellamy is the first name on Clattenburg’s list.
"I knew my relationship with him was on sticky ground when he squeezed my balls in the tunnel at the Etihad, and I don't mean my match-balls," Clattenburg told the Daily Mail.
"But Bellamy was a nightmare to referee and most of us felt the same. He would snarl at you and throw his arms around, constantly challenging you. His language was awful, just plain rude."
Unsurprisingly, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was next to feature.
Clattenburg said: "I have to start by saying that I worked with Roy for ITV during the World Cup in 2018 and he was a gentleman and nice to be around, proof that players can be very different off the pitch from on it."
However, he acknowledged that Keane could try and bully referees and added: "You just couldn't trust Roy either. You never knew if he was going to blow up or do something nasty, like the tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland. That was a disgrace, it was pre-meditated.
"He always came across as stone-cold and wanted to be the hard man. That causes problems for referees because the ego kicks in and it becomes a fight, like it did between him and Patrick Vieira."
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is also included in Clattenburg’s bad book.
Clattenburg continued: "He was just so irritable and never stopped, one of those miserable blokes who would whinge about everything and everyone.
"If the ball was round, he would whinge. If the ball was white, he would whinge. You would think, 'Just give it a rest'."
"But he would do snidey, little things himself that made it difficult and I didn't enjoy refereeing him at all. He was erratic and his antics were not easy to deal with."
Controversial Portuguese defender Pepe is another hard guy Clattenburg came across in Europe.
"He was another player you just couldn't trust," he said. "A game could be easy and straightforward then he would do something sly."
"But he was a wind-up merchant and not fun to referee one bit, you had to be on your guard constantly."
In 2012, former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel accused Clattenburg of using racist language in a Premier League game against Manchester United; an incident which has the ex-Nigeria captain’s name on the list.
Explaining his decision, Clattenburg said: "I have picked Mikel because of the incident during a Chelsea v Manchester United match in 2012 when he accused me of making a racist comment, which was not right and I was later cleared by the FA.
"He has never apologised and that is disappointing because it could have ruined my life. I fell out of love with refereeing for a while after that but couldn't quit because I had a family to support and no other career to pursue.
"It all left a bad feeling that still lingers today. Mikel only heard the allegation from his team-mate Ramires, who did not speak English. Other Chelsea players have since apologised but nothing from Mikel."
