The SFA planned a ‘Sunderland type’ documentary on five Category One referees but became nervous about giving it the go ahead!
Shining an independent torch on five leading referees would certainly make for interesting viewing but if it was edited by the SFA it is unlikely that any company would be willing to produce it.
Sunderland have featured in two Netflix series which has resulted in thousands of hours of footage being cut down to a dozen hour long episodes to give a flavour of the every day matters inside a football club.
Putting cameras on Willie Collum, Bobby Madden, Andrew Dallas and John Beaton would certainly be an interesting assignment, following them on training sessions, meeting up with the Lanarkshire Referee Association and on their social activities.
Will this do Joe pic.twitter.com/TqAaTdHJ7x
— Curran (@curran67) June 4, 2020
Delighted to see the response to Willie’s podcast with the guys. We got so close to a TV documentary a few years back with five Cat One refs but there was a nervousness that prevented it. Maybe the reaction to this will help change perception. https://t.co/h7N882oeS5
— Darryl Broadfoot (@DarrylBroadfoot) June 4, 2020
Willie Collum has featured in a recent podcast with Kris Boyd and Robert Snodgrass with the first episode consisting of half an hour in which the Lanarkshire based referee looks for sympathy for his mistakes.
Collum discusses a televised match at Falkirk two years ago in which he wrongly awarded two penalties and how his performances dropped as a result of honest criticism for getting decisions wrong.
This season he bizarrely awarded a penalty against Roma in a Europa League tie when the ball hit Chris Smalling in the face. Missing an incident is one thing but seeing something that didn’t happen is completely different.
Collum reveals that almost instantly he knew that he got that decision wrong, that he apologised to Roma but overall his concern was that it would hamper his career prospects.
With so much insecurities on show Collum really should take a step back from the high-profile mistakes that he regularly makes, if he genuinely loves the game so much he can get the same level of enjoyment from taking charge of matches in the Scottish Junior leagues.