In today’s Daily Record Hugh Keevins has touched on one of the great taboos of Scottish football, then promptly sped away from the issue.
At Ibrox tomorrow John Beaton from the Lanarkshire Referee Association will be in charge of the Glasgow derby, a man groomed and entirely reliant on the Dallas family for his lucrative second career.
Beaton made his mark in 2014 by denying Albion Rovers a Scottish Cup victory at Ibrox, a performance that fast tracked him through the ranks.
There won’t be many neutrals in Bellshill tomorrow, the locals know exactly what Beaton is.
His greatest career moment arrived in December 2018 when a depleted Celtic side turned up at Ibrox. Mikey Johnston was centre forward, Callum McGregor at left-back. Mikel Lustig and Filip Benkovic never made it back out for the second half.
It was a golden opportunity for the Ibrox Tribute Act to record their first ever SPFL win over Celtic, some ‘baffling’ decisions by the man from Bellshill ensured that the result was never in doubt.
Tucked away in the middle of his column in the Daily Record Keevins writes:
Many Celtic supporters believe John Beaton, the match referee, will do everything in his power to ensure a Rangers victory tomorrow. A widely-circulated photograph of the official in a pub frequented by Rangers supporters long ago established Beaton on social media platforms as a man not to be trusted. Allegedly.
There are a couple of pictures of Beaton from 2018 celebrating with friends in The Crown Bar Bellshill after he had refereed a Glasgow derby at Ibrox. The Daily Record has never published the pictures, discussed them or contacted Beaton to confirm that the three pictures are fakes.
Strangely it seems that only referees from Glasgow or Lanarkshire are rewarded with the Glasgow derby fixture.
Alfredo Morelos seemed to have diplomatic immunity as he booted lumps out of Scott Brown, Ryan Christie and Tony Ralston without even a yellow card. After the match he celebrated on social media with an image of his stamping on Ralston’s back.
There was no retrospective action from the Compliance Officer, five days later the spineless Celtic CEO dug out his surprised and disappointed statement template to defuse the anger across social media.
Typically there was no follow up from Lawwell, Beaton continued to get the high profile matches with aspiring referees like Nick Walsh, Ewan Anderson, David Munro and Don Robertson shown exactly what is required if they are to take charge of the top domestic fixtures and pick up the lucrative foreign jollies from UEFA and FIFA.
Never mind England, if that was a Referee in a Celtic pub after such a dubious performance this country would lose its mind! https://t.co/Z3mtD0ntRm
— deaksey (@deaks1ey) January 1, 2023
Former @ScottishFA referee, Mike McCurry part of the orange order marches in Glasgow this weekend (15:00) pic.twitter.com/JuOsxHVi49
— Ross ConnelI (@RosskoC) June 1, 2015
In April 2008 the Daily Record published the following quotes from Orange Order member Mike McCurry during a softly softly interview with Hugh Keevins:
I’m only 43-years-old but I’ve been refereeing for 26 years. It’s a lengthy apprenticeship that ought to have prepared me for what followed the derby match.
Experienced referees know that you stay out of the public eye for a week before an Old Firm game and another seven days after it’s all done.
The extent to which you can have a normal life after the derby’s over depends on the level of controversy which has been left attached to it.
In my case, I became the centre of allegations that I was anti-Celtic because of the number of bookings I’d given out to their players.
My previous average for Old Firm games was three cautions and the match at Ibrox had also involved a late melee which forced me to yellow card five players in the last couple of minutes.
And there we have the prime example of the futility of your less than average daily Record scoop sports typist /reporter ! The bosses at the newspaper will no doubt be pondering where they are going wrong in selling less and less editions of the rag each passing month …Look no further than the Hotline telephonist …Hugh Keevins .