Celtic chairman Bankier admits to concern over Hampden referee Nick Walsh

Ian Bankier has admitted that he is concerned about Nick Walsh refereeing Saturday’s League Cup semi-final against.

The Celtic chairman was under fire from shareholders over a variety of issues at today’s AGM where he was the main focus of questioning rather than Peter Lawwell.

One subject that Celtic fans have been increasingly concerned about has been the standard of refereeing with some bizarre patterns and repeat appointments.

Despite using 16 referees in Premiership fixtures this season Bobby Madden was in charge of three of Celtic’s first 12 SPFL fixtures.

Similarly, less than a month after Nick Walsh took charge of the Premiership match against St Johnstone the same referee will be in the middle at Hampden when the two teams clash in the semi-final of the Premier Sports (League) Cup.

Covering the issue at today’s Celtic AGM, the Daily Record reports:

Bankier was put on the spot by a shareholder who highlighted an incident involving Cameron Carter-Vickers during a recent win over St Johnstone.

He clashed with Chris Kane and plenty of Celtic fans believed the Saints striker should have been sent off following the incident. Referee Nick Walsh chose not to dismiss Kane and booked Carter-Vickers.

The same official has now been appointed to oversee Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final clash with the Perth side.

Bankier agreed that he was concerned by Walsh being appointed and that there remains regular dialogue between Celtic and the SFA. However, asked what he was going to do about it, the chairman replied: “We don’t run the SFA.”

The vote to reappoint Bankier as chairman wasn’t supported by a show of hands in the room but the proxy votes have him an overwhelming majority.