“Everyone’s raging”… Scottish FA infuriate their own with Celtic vs Rangers call

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The Scottish FA can’t seem to go a week without annoying someone in Scottish football this season.

Whether it’s punishing Brendan Rodgers for calling out their officials or Aberdeen lambasting the use of VAR, they’ve isolated and alienated plenty.

Now, it seems even their own community are growing tired of their decisions after an e-mail from outgoing referee chief Crawford Allan.

The Scottish Sun reports that Allan has informed a group of 40 or so ex-officials that they likely won’t be receiving tickets or invited to a ‘luncheon’ for the upcoming Celtic vs Rangers Scottish Cup final due to security and segregation concerns.

The former refs, some of whom are used to assess current officials, have been advised to buy their own briefs and claim the cost back – so eventual free entry is on the cards. However, their anger has been made apparent.

Anonymous referee source let rip at SFA

An anonymous ex-referee told the paper: “Everyone’s raging, it’s absolute nonsense. There’s never been an issue with safety or security before, no matter who’s been in the final, so it feels like there’s more to it than the letter claims.

“We’re thinking they just don’t want us there. The SFA has lost the dressing room when it comes to how referees feel and now they’ve lost the observers as well.”

The furore comes at a critical time for the SFA after their promise to review “operational priorities of the department based on the insights to date from VAR implementation”, which follows a season of drama and errors in the Scottish Premiership.

SFA could bring in outside help to referee department

As discussed on Friday, former English Premier League referee Jon Moss is the leading candidate to become the SFA’s new head of referees, replacing Allan.

He’ll want the group of former referees onside to implement any changes, so it may be wise for the SFA to smooth this one over.

Don’t get me wrong, the old boys network culture at the association needs to change – and perhaps getting rid of ‘luncheons’ is part of that – but the real differences need to be seen on the pitch.