referees A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Scottish football Association football ( sco, fitbaa, gd, ball-coise) is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scot ...

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final. When combined with significant weather disruption, the effect of the strike was that only four games went ahead, all in the SPL on 27 November, using replacement referees drawn from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

,

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was the first time since 1905 that a domestic Scottish match had been refereed by someone from outside Scotland. The dispute centred on perceptions that the SFA was not doing enough to protect referees from undue criticism from football clubs, leading to increasing fears for personal safety as controversial decisions were debated by the media and fans. After referee

Dougie McDonald Douglas McDonald (born 8 October 1965) is a former FIFA International soccer referee and Scottish Category 1 referee. McDonald is a Transportation planning, transport planner by profession, and currently is Director of Transport for Stantec in ...

was found to have lied to his supervisor and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

after a game on 17 October 2010, the ensuing controversy and debate led to referees voting to strike on 21 November in an attempt to achieve substantial changes in the game. Immediately after the strike, McDonald opted for early retirement, to allow the ongoing dispute to focus on the issues at hand.

Background

As a commercially separate entity, the referees for the SPL are provided under contract from the SFA. Until the 2010 dispute, there had never been a referees strike before in Scottish football. Scottish referees are not fully professional, and instead are paid on a match fee basis, currently set at £800 and equating to a maximum expected income of £10,000 a year according to ex-referee

Stuart Dougal Stuart Dougal (born 6 November 1962) is a retired Scottish football referee2008–09 season was averted when the Scottish Senior Referees' Association and the SPL agreed to benchmark SPL referees pay to that of other European leagues. At the time it was acknowledged that the dispute was not only related to pay parity, but also about questions over their authority, with Jim Traynor commenting that referees saw a "need to be protected from chairman and managers who question their honesty and integrity". In December 2008, after several SPL managers were rebuked by the SPL and SFA for critical comments about referees, all SPL managers signed an agreement to stop discussing refereeing decisions after matches. According to Rangers manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

, the agreement was a "show of intent from managers that there is an acceptance that there are too many headlines being grabbed by the fact that we may be a little critical of referees at times", while the then Celtic manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

stated "we think we should take the pressure off referees a bit", and "Whether it works or not, I don't know, but it's worth a try". By the time of the 2010 strike, that experiment was described by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

as having been short-lived, and by ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' as having been gradually undermined.

Penalty incident and aftermath

Refereeing in Scotland came under intense media attention in 2010 after a controversial incident on 17 October, during an SPL game between

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, which Celtic won 2–1. When the score was level at 1–1, referee

Dougie McDonald Douglas McDonald (born 8 October 1965) is a former FIFA International soccer referee and Scottish Category 1 referee. McDonald is a Transportation planning, transport planner by profession, and currently is Director of Transport for Stantec in ...

awarded a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

to Celtic. After consulting with assistant referee Steven Craven, McDonald annulled his initial decision. Celtic officials heavily criticised the decision to not award a penalty after the game. After Craven resigned on 25 October, it emerged that he and McDonald had lied to his supervisor, Jim McBurney, and to Celtic manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

about the decision making process. McDonald had claimed that he had changed his mind after consulting with Craven, when in fact he had changed his mind himself before consulting Craven. This revelation prompted an investigation by the SFA, which resulted in McDonald receiving an official warning on 29 October, while also upholding the actual decision. Both before and after the warning was given, however, there were calls for McDonald to resign. There was also disagreement over the actual version of events between Craven, McDonald, and SFA Head of Referee Development

Hugh Dallas Hugh Dallas MBE (born 26 October 1957) is a Scottish former football referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 and 2002; he was appointed fourth official for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final. Dallas also officiated at th ...

. While resisting calls for an independent inquiry into the McDonald incident, SFA chief executive

Stewart Regan Stewart Regan (born 10 February 1964, County Durham) is the former CEO of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Scottish Football Association. He was also Director of the English Football League Championship, a position he took up following 17 year ...

launched an inquiry to review how referees are disciplined, suggesting the current method of examination by a panel of mostly former referees was improper. According to ''The Telegraph'' recounting the McDonald incident on the eve of the strike, "the rules do not permit McDonald to be sacked", and having declined to resign as the newspaper alleged some at the SFA felt he should, he subsequently returned to the referees roster. On 28 November, the day after Scottish referees went on strike, McDonald retired. Following the SPL

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 ...

game of 24 October, Celtic twice wrote to the SFA to question the decisions made by referee William Collum, who also received death threats. Denying he was stoking up tension around refereeing decisions, Neil Lennon condemned the threats. He also claimed that the media reaction to his club's recent questioning of referees as having been blown out of proportion, and that their actions were not out of the ordinary compared to other clubs. On 3 November Celtic striker

Gary Hooper Gary Hooper (born 26 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot club Omonia. Hooper started his career at League Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, as well ...

claimed referees wanted to give decisions against his team. Lennon then received a two match touchline ban after heavily criticising decisions by referee Craig Thomson and his team during a 2–0 away defeat to Hearts on 10 November. Lennon stated after the game "I'll seek clarification, but they'll probably have their story ready" and "Craig Thomson's supposed to be one of the best in the country. It doesn't say a lot for the rest if that's the case." On 30 October, the SFA chief executive

Stewart Regan Stewart Regan (born 10 February 1964, County Durham) is the former CEO of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Scottish Football Association. He was also Director of the English Football League Championship, a position he took up following 17 year ...

, describing how his first month in the role had been dominated by the issue of refereeing, announced plans to launch a ''Respect'' campaign early in 2011. Regan commented that "This whole handling of referees by managers, players and clubs has got to stop". On the same day, Hearts released a statement calling for refereeing standards to go up significantly, post match statements from officials explaining decisions. The statement also suggested that lower standards could be a "cover for bias and match fixing". On 16 November,

Pete Wishart Peter Wishart (born 9 March 1962) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and musician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Perth and North Perthshire, formerly North Tayside, since the 2001 general election. Wishart i ...

, a spokesman for the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

on sport, stated that all referees in Scotland should be required to declare which team they support, claiming that while he did not doubt their fairness, such a declaration was in keeping with the general rise in the

freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigeno ...

culture. Two days later, the Celtic chairman John Reid, addressing Celtic's annual general meeting, stated that referee McDonald's position was now completely untenable and called for his resignation. He also stated that Wishart's proposal should be considered as part of the bold and radical action the SFA needed to take to restore their integrity in the wake of the controversy. On 21 November the '' Sunday Mail'' published a story claiming that 80 percent of Category One officials had failed a 30-question written exam on the Laws of the Game, conducted at a Spanish winter training camp in February, and alleged Hugh Dallas had been "taken aback" by the results and had instituted remedial action.

Strike action

During a meeting in the afternoon of Sunday, 21 November, the Category One referees voted to strike over the crisis. Media reports suggested all 31 of the 33 Category One referees present at the meeting voted for the strike, supported by all 10 Category Two officials also present. The meeting had followed a regular monthly SFA organised meeting, after which the referees asked to carry on using the room for a meeting of the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association. Based on the fact that Category Three officials represented by both the SRFA and the Scottish Association of Referees (SAR) had not been represented at the strike meeting, the SSFRA informed them on 23 November that as far as they were concerned, they were at liberty to choose whether or not they accepted appointments for the weekend. Former Scottish referee Kenny Clark said that the reason for the strike was that referees were at "the end of their tether" over the effect criticism of their decisions was having on themselves, their families, and their professional lives. He cited instances of hate email being sent to the workplaces of referees. Fearing rising tension would lead to attacks, according to Clark, the strike was intended to "put down a marker", and that the comments from Reid had "put the tin lid on it" in the strike meeting. Another former Scottish referee

Stuart Dougal Stuart Dougal (born 6 November 1962) is a retired Scottish football referee According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', the '' Sunday Mail'' story published in the morning the strike meeting was called "was regarded by many at

he strike He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

meeting as the last straw". The referees stated that the strike would go ahead irrespective of the outcome of talks conducted in the intervening week, but that referees would return to officiating after the weekend action. The consequent negotiations, which were described by the referees as constructive, included the offer from the SFA of a ban on all immediate comment from managers on referees before and after games, and stricter sanctions for those who question referees integrity. The referees also sought written assurances from the chairmen of all 42 senior clubs that they respected referees integrity. After a second meeting on Wednesday 24 November, at midnight the referees reaffirmed the strike would be going ahead, as the action was not intended to be a "bargaining chip" to produce "quick fixes or deals". The SFA had set a deadline of Thursday for talks to succeed and the strike to be called off, after which they would be forced to implement contingency plans of seeking foreign, replacement officials. Referee spokesman John McKendrick described how the strike was intended to affect root and branch change in Scottish football, and act as both a statement of intent and an opportunity for reflection, stating "The time for talking about practical steps to improve Scottish refereeing should start from Monday". He expressed doubt that had the strike not gone ahead, the same "desire for change" which had manifested in the SFA's announcements after the strike was called, would have occurred.

Reaction

According to

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

, Celtic welcomed the strike, on the basis that it would prompt a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

(Union of European Football Associations) investigation into refereeing standards. UEFA however quickly stated they would not be intervening in the dispute, describing it as a "purely domestic matter" for the SFA to resolve. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' writing after the strike announcement, while "Celtic have remained at the centre of controversy", and excepting the statement from Hearts on 30 October, it stated that "other clubs and managers have refrained from any form of criticism unning up to the decision to strikein a bid to ease the pressure". Denying that the recent disputes with Celtic were the sole factor behind the decision to strike, on the eve of the strike SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said "This is an issue across Scottish football as far as the refs are concerned. They mentioned incidents and individuals across the SPL and SFL".

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

manager Craig Brown stated the strike was a "radical course of action, a step too far", and complained that the action would unfairly affect his club with loss of broadcast rights revenues if their SPL match at home against Hearts was affected.

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

manager

Mixu Paatelainen Mika-Matti Petteri Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional football player and the head coach of Veikkausliiga club HIFK. He scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for the Finnish national team, which makes him Finland's ...

described the planned strike as "disappointing" but stated that "there has been too much talk of referees and I don't think that's healthy", claiming it could affect referees performances. The recently appointed manager of Hibernian,

Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...

, was supportive of the strike, but insisted managers had the right to voice their opinions, detailing how there had been concerns in every match he been in charge of up to the strike, and suggested guidelines could be issued to managers on appropriate commentary of referees by managers. While generally supportive and understanding of the referees position, Rangers manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

criticised the broad nature of their criticism, and their desire for every club to state they would not question referees integrity. Claiming that his club had never questioned referees integrity, he called on the referees to specifically name the people they believe were questioning their integrity. As the talks to avert the strike ended, the chief executive of the SPL

Neil Doncaster Neil Doncaster (born 1970) is an association football executive. He was appointed as chief executive of the Scottish Professional Football League in July 2013, having previously held the same position at the Scottish Premier League from 2009 t ...

said of the strike that they were "sympathetic towards referees and the criticism they have received in recent weeks, but the way to address concerns is through dialogue, not to walk away from the situation". David Longmuir, chief executive of the SFL, reiterated that they had admiration and support for referees, but that "as a result of the action, many of our clubs and supporters will feel let down".

Fraser Wishart Fraser Wishart (born 1 March 1965) is a Scottish former professional footballer, former Secretary of the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association, and current chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland. He is a ...

, chief executive of the

Professional Footballers' Association Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repla ...

, stated he could not 100% support the strike, feeling aggrieved at the fact the discussions between the SFA and the referees in the intervening week between announcement and strike, had been done 'behind closed doors', and would likely "bring in tougher regulations that will see our members being hammered". It was initially advised on Thursday that 11 of the 20 scheduled games would proceed, including all SPL games, with all but one

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

match postponed. First Division clubs

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

and

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

, who were among the clubs affected, stated that they would seek compensation from the SFA for the financial effects of rescheduling, citing the example of the cost of having already printed programmes for the games and of staffing commitments. The SNP Leader and First Minister of Scotland

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

, Scottish Labour Party Sport spokesperson Bill Butler, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

Tavish Scott Tavish Hamilton Scott (born 6 May 1966) is a former Scottish politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Shetland from 1999 to 2019, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011. He stepped down as Lead ...

, all expressed their hope that the strike could be avoided through discussion between the referees and the SFA. Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the National trade union center, national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation ...

supported the strike, describing any referee who officiated as a replacement, as a " scab". The SFA chief executive Stewart Regan denied the replacements were scabs, stating " he Scottish refereesare not a union. They are an association. They operate for the good of Scottish football, they are not employed by the SFA. They get a match fee. No-one is breaking union rules." Regan stated all replacement officials were all experienced referees at the highest level and had been approved by the SFA's Referee Committee, explaining that they were all either "

Fifa FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

listed or Grade One officials in their own countries."

Replacement officials

In order to ensure fixtures would go ahead, the SFA approached "in excess" of 25 nations within UEFA for replacement officials. After being refused help by the associations in

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and also having believed to have been declined help by those in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, by 25 November, the SFA stated it had secured officials for 11 of the 20 fixtures originally scheduled for the affected weekend. The 44 officials being drafted in to allow the 11 games to go ahead were believed to be from

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, at a cost of around £40,000. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', the English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

had insufficient numbers of free officials to be able to help. The 11 fixtures that were to go ahead as scheduled using replacement officials, comprised the full

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

programme (4 games on Saturday, 2 on Sunday), three Saturday

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, and one First Division game (drawn by lots). The nine games which would not go ahead were the remaining First Division fixtures (3 games), and all the games in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

(2 games), and Third Division (4 games), all scheduled for the Saturday. In light of the free choice stance of the SRFA at the strike meeting on the involvement of Category Three Scottish referees, three of them were lined up to act as the

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the La ...

s in three SPL games alongside the foreign officials. On 26 November, the Polish FA reversed their decision to send three sets of officials, stating they were now required for games in Poland, followed by the Portuguese FA, who had sent teams of officials to cover the two Sunday SPL games, only to board a return flight as soon as they arrived at Glasgow Airport. The withdrawals led to the last remaining Division One game being called off, and two of three Scottish Cup replays also being called off, and cast doubt over cover for the remaining fixtures. Scottish broadcaster STV claimed the Polish referees pulled out after they realised they were providing cover for striking referees, having initially believed they were participating in an exchange programme. On the eve of the strike, the Israeli FA stated it might not have sent referees had it been given the full story behind the request by the SFA, while the Luxembourg FA stated they had not been given the reasons behind the SFA's request, but that they had been following the dispute on the internet. The SFA published the names of the referees appointed for the weekend fixtures on Friday 26 November, showing that the matches would be refereed by officials from Malta, Israel, Portugal and Luxembourg. These appointments were thrown into confusion, however, when the Portuguese officials returned home soon after arriving at

Glasgow Airport gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu , image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg , image-width = 200 , image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg , image2-width = 250 , IATA = GLA , ICAO = EGPF , type = Public , owner = AGS Airports , hub = *easy ...

. The Portuguese referees had been due to officiate the matches at Hibernian on Saturday and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

on Sunday. Adverse weather conditions also affected the scheduled matches. Two of the Scottish Cup replays failed a Friday pitch inspection after the time of the Polish withdrawal, with the last one called off on Saturday morning due to overnight snow. The latter postponement opened a possibility for the SFA to plug the gap caused by the departure of the Portuguese officials. The Maltese officials were reassigned to cover the match between Hibernian and

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

. A set of Israeli officials were given the scheduled match between Motherwell and Hearts, which was postponed on Sunday morning due to deteriorating weather conditions. The SFL also postponed the 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final due to those conditions.

Alain Hamer Alain Hamer (born 10 December 1965, in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgian football referee. He was a referee in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. He has refereed over 50 matches in the UEFA Champions League, the first in 2000–01. He has also re ...

had been due to referee the match between

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and Rangers on Sunday, having controlled the match between

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

on Saturday, but the game was called off after a Sunday morning pitch inspection. One of the Israeli officials, Eli Hacmon, commented after refereeing the match between

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

and

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 ...

that no-one had explained to him why the referees were on strike before he travelled to Scotland. He went on to say that he would not have provided his services if he had known that the Scottish referees had gone on strike due to criticism. Aberdeen players protested when Hacmon awarded a penalty kick against them during the match, but BBC Sport commented that it appeared to be a simple decision, as goalkeeper

Jamie Langfield James Robert Langfield (born 22 December 1979) is a Scottish football player and coach, who is currently the goalkeeping coach at St Mirren. Langfield, who played as a goalkeeper, started his career with Dundee. He then played for Partick Thi ...

had impeded

Alexei Eremenko Alexei Eremenko (born Aleksei Alekseyevich Yeryomenko; russian: Алексей Алексеевич Ерёменко; born 24 March 1983) is a former professional footballer. He is from a footballing family, with his father, Alexei Eremenko Sr. ...

. With both Sunday SPL games postponed due to the weather, only four of the scheduled 20 games in the weekend programme went ahead. The four results were Celtic 2–2 Inverness, Hamilton 0–0 St Mirren, Hibernian 0–0 St Johnstone and Kilmarnock 2–0 Aberdeen, with officials from Malta, Luxembourg and Israel in control, as well as two Scottish fourth officials. According to the ''

Scotland On Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...

'', the games controlled by the replacement officials was the first instance of a referee from outside Scotland refereeing a Scottish domestic match since 1905, when an English referee had been invited to officiate a league championship deciding match between the Old Firm rivals of Celtic and Rangers.

Aftermath

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan stated his confidence on 28 November that the referees would return to work the following weekend, as he believed that the intention of the referees was to only withdraw service for one weekend of matches. Regan also denied that the foreign officials had been misled by the SFA as to why they had been recruited. The '' Daily Record'' newspaper obtained a copy of the letter sent by the SFA to foreign associations requesting assistance, but found inconsistencies between the letter and what foreign officials believed to be the case. Referee Dougie McDonald announced his early retirement with immediate effect after the strike weekend, in order to remove the issue of his disputed actions which in part led to the strike, from the ongoing debate about referees treatment. A statement from the referees after the strike said, "Dougie retiring caps a sad time for Scottish refereeing. We hope the right people can sit down with referees and play a full part in delivering the real changes required." adding that they hoped the strike had "allowed everyone connected with Scottish football to have the period of reflection we felt was needed". Although

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

made no official comment,

Paul McBride Paul McBride QC (13 November 1964 – 4 March 2012) was a Scottish criminal lawyer based in Edinburgh. He was a board member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and a former vice chairman of the Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association. He ...

, a QC closely linked to the Celtic

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, commented that the club felt vindicated by the departures of Dallas and McDonald.

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

director Paul Goodwin stated on 30 November that he expected the SFL to pursue the SFA for compensation on behalf of the SFL clubs that had matches postponed due to the strike. Goodwin estimated that his club had lost around £10,000 due to the postponement of their match against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. In April 2011, Kenny Clark expressed his fear that another strike may take place due to the referees' belief that the SFA do not support them sufficiently. His comments were made the day after the SFA fined Rangers defender

Madjid Bougherra Madjid Bougherra ( ar, مجيد بوقرة, lit=, links=, translit=; born 7 October 1982) is an Algerian football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the manager of the Algeria A' national team. Bougherra began his p ...

for manhandling referee Calum Murray during an

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 ...

Scottish Cup tie, instead of potentially suspending the player from matches. During the 2013–14 season,

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

striker

Nadir Çiftçi Nadir Çiftçi (born 12 February 1992) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a forward for TFF Second League club Karaman FK. In a nomadic career he has played for Portsmouth, Kayserispor, NAC Breda, Dundee United, Celtic, Eskişeh ...

was suspended for two matches after he was found guilty of "placing an open hand on the ... throat" of referee Gavin Harris. The referees' association criticised the sentence for being too lenient, leading to media speculation that the referees would take industrial action. Speaking in October 2018, Kenny Clark said that the strike had not brought about an improvement in respect for referees. Clark was commenting in the days after a

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

v Rangers game, where someone in a section of Rangers supporters hit an assistant referee with a coin.

References

External links

Scottish Football Association

Scottish Premier League

Scottish Football League
{{2010–11 in Scottish football

Referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Association football controversies Labour disputes in Scotland 2010 labor disputes and strikes Sports labor disputes Sports scandals in Scotland

Background

Penalty incident and aftermath

Strike action

Reaction

Replacement officials

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading

External links