Willie Collum will referee Saturday’s match between Celtic and Aberdeen which almost certainly rules him out of being in charge of the Viaplay Cup Final on February 26.
The Lanarkshire based official is one of only five that have handled a Glasgow derby, that number is effectively down to four with Steven McLean’s only appointment coming at Ibrox in December 2016.
Collum hasn’t handled a Glasgow derby this season, he was on VAR duty at Ibrox on January 2, the SFA have put Nick Walsh and John Beaton in charge of the two SPFL matches.
Once touted as Scotland’s leading referee, he made a brief visit to the 2016 European Championships, Collum’s authority was recently undermined when the SFA accepted an appeal from Nicky Clark against a red card at Ibrox. Walsh was the VAR at that match.
Kevin Clancy has handled the derby match three times, on Saturday he will referee the Dundee United v St Johnstone match. Alan Newlands will be on VAR duty at Celtic Park on Saturday.
Don Robertson will be in charge when Micky Beale’s side visit Livingston on Saturday but has still to referee a Glasgow derby.
Beaton will referee the match between Hibs and Kilmarnock on Saturday. With Walsh not getting an appointment this weekend it looks like he could be getting rested ahead of a big appointment at Hampden.
CLICK HERE for refereeing appointments.
Theirs not 1 official i can trust honestly john loyalist beaton and n.walsh are just blue noses cheats but this is what celtic are up against every week our players are targets on the park we all seen kyogo on Saturday getting injured buy 2 st mirren players and stevie scumhun mclean never even gave a foul for shocking.
A cabal.
Collum is a RE Teacher and unlikely to be a closet Hun. In the penultimate Derby at Ibpox the Yellow Card, Yellow Card was knocked out of his hand by a sevco player as he attempted to book Jack, for man-handling Giakoumakis, (which he should have been Red-Carded for, since Giakoumakous was on the ground.)
Editor: Collum was groomed by Hugh Dallas, he knows the system and delivers the decisions needed to keep him on the circuit. His first Glasgow derby should have been his last.
An Official having a prosprective Yellow Card knocked out of the hand as he attempts to book a player in a Glasgow Derby is unprecedented in the time I have been following football, nearly sixty years! It would certainly be viewed as intimidation in most sporting scenarios. Yet it wasn’t picked up here, in Scotland, by the SFA – or anybody else!
So, if no-one supports the Officials, what chance sporting integrity?
If you know that a Referee plays a system to keep himself in a job, then you should expose the system!
The editor is correct here.
Collum is not longer teaching and if you know any of his former pupils you will know that he was a horrific teacher as well. Imagine being incompetent in two jobs. That’s Collum for you.
He never recovered from losing that ring to Bilbo.
If the Editor is
“Correct Here”
then why does he need you to answer for him?
Can he not speak for himself?
All I’m saying here is Collum is probably the best of them. We’d have more chance of winning with Collum than Beaton or Walsh, or Heaven forbid, Robertson!
remember the two penalties he gave aberdeen against us ? the guys a disaster