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Overkill as SFA put Robertson in charge of Celtic again

Photo of Joe McHugh Joe McHugh | 19:00 23/09/25
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So far this season 13 different referees have been in charge of SPFL Premiership fixtures, Nick Walsh and John Beaton have each had four matches with Don Robertson on three.

Celtic will play their sixth SPFL Premiership match of the season on Saturday at home to Hibs, for the third time Robertson will be in charge.

Already this season the Glasgow based referee has been in charge for the visit of St Mirren to Celtic Park on the opening weekend and then the Glasgow Derby.

With 13 referees to choose from it is surely overkill to have Robertson in charge of 50% of Celtic’s matches, he also refereed the final match of last season, the Scottish Cup Final.

No reasoning is ever given for the allocation of match officials but after six matches no-one should have refereed the same club more than once.

Over the course of a 38 match season the mist fixtures that a referee will get involving the same club is five or six, a referee will typically get around 30 Premiership matches a season.

Steven McLean will be on VAR duty with Graeme Stewart and Chris Rae on the lines.

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Joe McHugh

Joe McHugh has edited Video Celts since 2010, every day covering events in and around Scotland's most successful club.

When a six year stretch at the Sunday Mirror came to an end it was clear that the future was digital, print had ran its race.

Smart phones and social media created a new landscape, Video Celts has certainly made an impact with Joe described as having an unhealthy obsession by Peter Lawwell at the 2024 Celtic AGM. A priceless endorsement.

There are issues breaking around the clock, no two days are the same. More than 50 years on from his first match Joe is enjoying the ongoing successes of Celtic.

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2 comments

  • jimbhoy68 says:
    September 23, 2025 at 8:25 pm

    McLean on VAR explains it all.

    Robertson will excel in his usual role of stopping Celtic’s momentum by,

    A) calling them back when they have possession, ignoring the ‘advantage’ rule
    B) and then pussyfooting around as Celtic players line up to take the free kick, then,
    C) blowing the whistle to stop Celtic from taking the free kick as he wanders off to mediate some supposed infractions of the rules by defenders/ attackers lining up to receive/ deal with the feee kick
    D) for good measure Robertson will repeat moves B and C again.

    For the rest of the game he will meander around the pitch seemingly at random, but by some strange coincidence always in front of Celtic’s midfielders or front line players trying to play or receive the ball.

    McLean will do what the brotherly, brother(sic) of an ex minor Sevco player will do. He will spend the 90 minutes looking for any opportunity to deny Celtic an honest VAR decision or inflict a dishonest one on them.

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