“Steve has worked very hard throughout his time as a referee and has a vast amount of experience under his belt now. We are confident he will handle the situation superbly and that he is fully prepared for the occasion.
“He has waited a bit longer than some others for this appointment but with his performances over the last period, we believe now is the right time for him to be tested in this big game and hopefully he can come out the other end unscathed.”
Conroy hasn’t been given a single Celtic match since first footing Parkhead.
Looking forward to the New Year game he said: “There were stages over the last few years when I thought the opportunity might be slipping away from me. I have been in the game a long time now and hadn’t been given an Old Firm game.
“It is firmly understood by the refereeing community that only a select number of referees will ever take charge of this game and you have to be at the top of your career to be appointed. Last season, I definitely felt I had reached a far more consistent level of performance over the season.
“Of course every referee makes mistakes in every game but sometimes it can be a bit of luck whether the mistakes you make have a big effect on the game and its outcome.
“We work very hard with the referee development team and our observers to analyse every game and make sure that we learn from every mistake made.
“I watch every televised game that I am involved in over and over. I look at my positioning for decisions as well as the decisions themselves and I learn from every game.”
No doubt Conroy will look back at his performance on January 3 with regret, especially as Thomson is given another chance to prove that he has the nerve to make the big decisions in the most testing fixture in the Scottish calendar.
SFA article on Steve Conroy James Keatings targets first team goals
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I suspect they found out where Conroy went to school!
No chance of a fair game for the Celts with him officiating, that’s for sure.
The only real solution to this is getting an English or overseas ref to do this match although Dallas is against this.
There is a volatile fixture played in the middle-east and a foreign official always does this match, indeed Dallas himself done it once.
Maybe the powers that be at Paradise can lobby for this. I know the shame will be dead against it.
I think Al Ahly vs Zamalek in Cairo has foreign referees in charge. I attended one with a guy called Stewart from Scotland in charge (think he was retired). Zamalek won and he ruled out a goal for Ahly. Not popular but he was not accused of intentional bias. I don’t think any Scottish referee would be invited to officiate at a Girls’ Brigade international these days.