FORMER SFA head of disciplinary and refereeing Drew Herbertson has recalled how the governing body’s ex-secretary Ernie Walker silenced accusations of west coast refereeing bias by legendary Dundee United manager Jim McLean in the 1980s.
And Herbertson, who has just written Football Refereeing in Scotland: A History of its Organisation and Development 1873 to 2023, has explained why so many of Scotland’s leading match officials have emerged from the region over the years.
McLean transformed United’s fortunes after taking charge at Tannadice in 1971 and led the Tayside club to the Scottish title as well as the UEFA Cup final during his remarkable 22 year reign.
But the notoriously combustible manager had frequent run-ins with authority during his tenure – he once joked the SFA gave him a season ticket for the disciplinary committee meetings at Park Gardens – and believed that referees favoured Celtic and Rangers.
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“Away back in the 1980s, Jim McLean used to moan about the west coast bias of referees all the time,” said Herbertson.
“I remember once Dundee United were drawn away to St Mirren in the Scottish Cup. Ernie Walker came down to me and said, ‘See that game? Give them Bob Valentine from Dundee! That’ll keep him quiet!’”
Herbertson, who worked for the SFA in a variety of different roles for 38 years before retiring in 2019, believes there are good reasons that so many prominent referees come from the west coast.
“The Glasgow area provides the bulk of the referees,” he said. “Brian McGinley, Kenny Hope, Dougie Hope, David Syme – that is where the big men have all come from over the years. You couldn’t have games involving the big two in Glasgow without Glasgow referees.
“Maybe the quality of the junior game in the Glasgow area was better than in other parts of the country. Maybe that was the bedrock for the good Glasgow referees coming through.
“One of the best things about the SFA system is the training nights held by the local associations. You have referees of all categories going there for their training. Things rub off on the younger referees from the top refs.
“If they are in the Glasgow area they might be sharing a dressing room with the top referee in the country and he might be talking about his game on Saturday. So they pick things up.
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“That sharing of knowledge, how to deal with this incident, how to deal with that incident, does help. Just that contact in the referee community is important. It might be harder for an up-and-coming referee in Dumfries or Fife to have that same interaction with somebody higher up.”
Herbertson continued: “Because of the commonality of training these days and the information which is sent out by the SFA, it is a more level playing field than ever before. But the quality of football in your local area can count for a lot when you are coming through.
“It is the same with football teams. A young player coming into a team will benefit from having experienced players around about him. They will guide, coax and cajole him. It is the same principles in refereeing.
“But over the years, all the other areas have been well represented by referees. At one in the early 1990s we had five Class One referees from Aberdeen.”
Football Refereeing in Scotland: A History of its Organisation and Development 1873 – 2023 by Drew Herbertson is available to buy on Amazon.
