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John Beaton will referee Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup final against Hibernian on Sunday 19th December [SFA].

Beaton will be assisted by Graeme Stewart and Calum Spence, with Greg Aitken on fourth official duties.

The official hasn’t refereed a single Celtic league match this season, only officiating the Hoops’ last 16 cup win over Hearts in mid August [Soccerway].

Beaton last refereed a big Celtic game at Hampden almost a year ago, when the Hoops beat the Jambos on penalties to secure the delayed 2019/2020 Scottish Cup.

Beaton will be seen as a controversial choice by Celtic fans

He must be seen as a controversial choice, given his recent history with Celtic and Hoops fans.

In October, former Hoops favourite Chris Sutton branded Beaton “totally incompetent” after he awarded Rangers a dubious late penalty in their Ibrox draw against Aberdeen [Glasgow Times].

Beaton also gave Rangers a penalty in their win over Hibernian one week ago – making him an unpopular figure on the green side of Edinburgh too.

The final is set to be a huge occasion for Celtic as Ange Postecoglou bids for his first trophy as Hoops boss.

But before the Celts can think about Hampden, they will take on Real Betis, Motherwell and Ross County.

Wouldn’t it be great to go into that final on a winning run.

In other news, the fall-out from Celtic’s win over Hearts is somehow still going on