Steven Craven: WE LIED TO LENNY

Former SFA referee Steven Craven doesn’t miss Hugh Dallas as he reveals his side of events in the aftermath of the Dundee United-Celtic penalty controversy.

‘WE LIED TO LENNY’ screams the back page of the Sunday Mail before four pages of his blow by blow account of exactly what goes on inside the empire of Dallas.

SFA Chief Executive Stewart Regan will have his eyes popping at the story but if the events of Friday are anything to go by he’ll have to hand any disciplinary action over to the seven honest and true men of the SFA Referee Committee.

Craven’s account of life as a Scottish referee blows the lid open on what goes on within the corridors of power and paints a colourful picture of the resentment felt towards media darling Dallas as he protects his favourites and promotes himself as one of the boys.

The former referee explains how:

* Dougie McDonald lied to Neil Lennon about the penalty u-turn at Tannadice

* How McDonald and Craven came clean to Dallas

*How Dallas wanted to stick to the original story

* About the bullying, harassment and victimisation in the corridors of power that will lead to more refs quitting.

After reading Craven’s account there can be no way that Dallas can continue in office- the next question must be how his empire was allowed to grow and who turned a blind eye to the situation.

As an outsider to the Scottish game Regan must be thinking- it’s me orhim that resigns if the Scottish game is to retain any integrity or credibility.

After explaining how he had a different opinion from Dougie Dougie at an Aberdeen-Kilmarnock match two years ago- where Dougie Dougie was proved right- Craven picked up on the events at Tannadice:

He explained: “That incident was going through my mind immediately after he gave Celtic the penalty at Tannadice.

“I thought that he had the perfect position, there was no way that I could question him.

“He then ran towards me and said ‘I think I’ve f****d up. Did the keeper get a hand on the ball? I told him I believed the goalie played the ball and that it wasn’t a penalty so he decided it should be a drop ball.

“To make it clear Dougie approached me, I did not call for him to come over.”

Despite being aware of those facts Dallas decided to peddle a different course of events when he spoke to the BBC.

The Head of Referees claimed: “Dougie, after having given the decision, then received information from the assistant referee that the goalkeeper had played the ball from the better position that the assistant referee was in.”

After the final whistle the story gets even more interesting as McDonald attempts to cover his tracks.

Craven added: “Dougie said that we should tell the referee supervisor (Jim McBurnie) that I called him over to question the penalty award. He claimed it would give the decision to overturn the spot-kick more credibility.

“I went along with it because I wanted to be supportive of Dougie and back him up.

“That’s the first time I’ve lied after a game. It was the wrong thing to do. With hindsight I regret it. I’d never lie again.”

With McDonald’s reputation on the line Lennon was the first victim of the cover up.

……………………………………….CLICK HERE to continue

Steven Craven The Real Reasons Why I Resigned

Craven explained: “Lennon came into the room after the game and asked Dougie why he hadn’t given the penalty.

“We told him the version that was a lie, he seemed fine with the explanation but then I suppose his side had still managed to win thanks to a late goal.

“I told Neil it was better to win with a legitimate goal rather than a dodgy penalty. He agreed.

” Despite knowing that Lennon had been lied to, Dallas, revelling in the spotlight, and anxious to paint a picture of harmony with his officials decided to embellish the cover up.

Again speaking to the BBC he said: “They (the officials) had a discussion and Neil accepted that the decision was correct. He received a full explanation, which he found acceptable after the match.”

Dallas gave that interview despite being informed by Dougie Dougie and Craven that they had lied to the Celtic manager.

With the incident dominating the Monday morning headlines Craven began to feel uncomfortable with his role especially since he was being portrayed as the villain.

After texting Dougie Dougie Craven got a call back explaining that Dougie Dougie had phoned Dallas to tell him that the match supervisor had been lied to- that Craven hadn’t shouted him over.

The truth felt uncomfortable to Dallas as Craven explained: “The impression that I got was that Hugh wanted to continue with the version of events that wasn’t the truth.

“My reading of the situation was Hugh wanted to protect Dougie and leave me to take the flak.

“It was wrong to lie and I’m not proud that I went along with Dougie’s suggestion. Rewind the clock and I wouldn’t do it but it was worse to continue the lie. I was really upset with Hugh.”

Craven’s story appears in today’s Sunday Mail.

Craven- the real reasons why I resigned

John Hartson- I’m sorry there could be a conspiracy

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