Spot kick Norris to referee Celtic match

Euan ‘spot-kick’ Norris will referee Celtic’s visit to St Johnstone on Saturday.

Norris hasn’t refereed a Celtic match since his controversial handling of last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final when he awarded Hearts a last gasp penalty kick that saw Neil Lennon confront the official on the pitch at the final whistle.

A shot from Marius Zaliukas struck Joe Ledley at point range before hitting Victor Wanyama with Norris racing to point to the spot.

Earlier in the match Norris had missed an over the ball assault on Ledley from Ian Black which was picked up by a linesman with the Hearts midfielder fortunate only to see a yellow card.

After the game Lennon tweeted the views held by many Celtic fans, he said: “Referee told players he thought Wanyama handled…feel so sorry for players and fans..I think it’s personal myself.”

Later the Celtic boss apologised for confronting Norris saying: “I deeply regret what happened. I will be sending correspondence to the referee as an apology as well. It’s one actionable thing that I’ve done that I shouldn’t have done. I will go to the tribunal and hopefully get a fair hearing and take what’s coming.”

Norris has a history of awarding penalties with Rangers receiving two in the same match a year ago away to Inverness who had Ross Tokely sent off in one of the incidents.

After that match Butcher said: “I’m very angry, this is the second game in succession that penalties have been the main factor. I’ve seen the second one and it’s nowhere near a penalty.”

Speaking to Chic Young of the BBC he admitted:  ”I couldn’t speak to you 10 minutes ago, because I would have probably ripped your head off.

“I thought I would have a quiet 15 minutes with Euan Norris and have a chat about things.”

Mike Tumility who disallowed a last minute ‘goal’ for Berwick Rangers will be the fourth official at the St Johnstone v Celtic match.

CLICK HERE for Norris spot kick history