GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 16: Celtic's Daizen Maeda with the trophy during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Heart of Midlothian at Celtic Park, on May 16, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Five years ago Celtic’s SPFL title win would have been denied by an offside flag from an SFA official
With the title decider against Hearts level at 1-1 Marcelo Saracchi delivered a brilliant pass behind the Hearts defence.
Callum Osmand ran onto it, Daizen Maeda headed towards goal. Osmand delivered it perfectly, Maeda made his move and dinked his shot beyond goalkeeper Alex Schwolow.
As the players turned to celebrate in front of the North Stand David Roome raised his flag for offside.
Had this been the 21/22 season the goal would have been wrongly disallowed. Based on the judgement of a part-time assistant referee.
THE SFA TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT OF MATCH OFFICIALS
Roome is a member of the Lanarkshire Referee Association, the dominant force in Scottish refereeing.
He was introduced to refereeing by Bobby Madden, everyone knows his feelings about Celtic. He demonstrated it in every match, especially his farewell, the 2022 Scottish Cup semi-final.
There are no valid excuses for flagging for offside.
Being generous it was an honest mistake. He felt that Osmand was two yards further forward and beyond the last Hearts defender.
It is quite a stretch to believe that version. If it is the case then Roome shouldn’t be allowed near another match of significance.
— pablo capaldi (@pablocapaldi) May 17, 2026
There was no need for the SFA official to raise his flag. Every goal is VAR checked for offside.
Only Roome knows why he decided to raise his flag.
It was similar to the decision two weeks ago by Douglas Ross to flag for offside against another Maeda goal. This time against Hibs.
Again the VAR check allowed the goal to stand.
Assistant referees know that every goal is VAR checked. Their decision only matters when a goal isn’t scored.
Willie Collum, Head of Refereeing at the SFA appointed Roome and Ross.
If they are still involved next season Collum and the SFA become the problem.
The reason is fairly simple, he wanted it to be offside. If I’m being kind, like Ross against Hibs, his unconscious bias kicked in. They hope VAR doesn’t have a good angle or it’s not clear enough, in this scenario the on pitch decision stands. Without VAR these decisions cost us trophies.