The announcement of Craig Thomson to referee the Co-Operative Cup Final on March 20 continues the marginalisation of Willie Collum.
After 18 months of nonsence about ‘one of Scotland’s top referees’ the career path of the eagle-eyed 32-year-old has taken a welcome dip.
Since his disastrous Glasgow derby debut in October there have been four Celtic-Rangers fixtures with Collum overlooked for all of them.
Despite the retirement of Dougie McDonald during that period the SFA have ignored eagle-eyes and even appointed Iain Brines for his first derby match- ten years after joining the Grade One list.
By the time of the next batch of appointments are made for the SPL, on Apruil 2, it will have been almost three months since Collum was last put in charge of a Celtic match.
In the first five months of the season no referee was involved in more Celtic matches with Collum the man in the middle for four Celtic games.
As well as announcing the Co-Operative Cup Final referee yesterday the SFA also gave Alan Muir Rangers and Celtic’s next SPL fixtures at home to Kilmarnock and Hibs.
Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie at Inverness will be refereed by Mile Tulmilty who seems, like Muir and Euan Norris, to be one of the new referees emerging this season.
Collum was given Sunday’s St Mirren-Rangers match but hasn’t been given any match in the Scottish Cup or lower divisions this weekend.
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Craig Thomson cup final watch out for the return of the honest hun mistake.