Brian McGinlay (born 24 August 1945) is a retired football referee from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, who officiated in 98 European club competition and international matches.

Refereeing career

At the domestic level McGinlay has refereed 21

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

derbies, during which he never

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

a player, but he considers his most nerve-racking match to be the Rangers–

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

title decider match at the climax of the 1990–91 season. In European club football he judged his most exciting match to be the Real Madrid– Borussia Mönchengladbach third-round second-leg

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

match. In international football he has taken charge of matches at the 1980 European Championships, the Home Championship and the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. He was placed on the referees' list for the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

but was later removed after being struck off the SFA list due to personal reasons.

Personal life

In 1991 McGinlay was banned from driving for a year and fined £250 for failing to provide a sample when stopped on his way home from the

Scottish Cup Final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...

Retirement

Since retirement as a referee McGinlay has been a director of Stenhousemuir Football Club, an after-dinner speaker, and a columnist for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', the '' Daily Record'' and the '' Sunday Mail''.

References

1945 births Scottish football referees Living people Olympic football referees 20th-century Scottish criminals UEFA Euro 1980 referees Scottish Football League referees {{scotland-footy-bio-stub