SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell has dismissed accusations the appointment of Willie Collum as head of refereeing was “jobs for the boys” and stressed the Scot emerged as the standout candidate following a global search.
Former Category One and FIFA Elite referee Collum took over in the key role back in May after his predecessor Crawford Allan, who had replaced John Fleming in 2020, moved on to pursue other opportunities.
Global sports recruitment experts Elevate Talent compiled a list of experienced applicants from four different continents – but the SFA board felt that the former religious education teacher was best placed to deal with the unique challenges of the position.
Read more:
-
Rangers respond after Willie Collum major VAR error admission
-
Willie Collum admits 'unacceptable' Rangers cup final penalty mistake
“When Crawford said he was going to step away, I remember having a conversation with Gary Booth, who is head of governance for us, about who we are going to get,” said Maxwell.
“We both said, ‘Right, we are going to need to get someone who is non-Scottish, no nonsense, nothing’. It is a very niche role so trying to find somebody is difficult because they need to have been an elite referee unless you go outwith it.
“So then I got a text from Willie, who I had hardly met. I didn’t know him at all. He said, ‘Listen, can I have a chat?’. I can remember going to Gary and saying, ‘Willie Collum wants to speak to me. This is going to be about the job. Do you know what? He is a top ref, I will need to keep him warm, we will just have a chat’.
Maxwell continued: “I saw what we are now seeing in terms of transparency, him throwing himself into it, honest. He is an absolute referee geek. I have never met anybody else like him. I am actually worried that he is going to burn himself out as he has put so much into it. It has literally been his life.
“He was actually the opposite of what we thought we would do, but the big thing that he has got is every one of the referees is right behind him. He has been a breath of fresh air.”
Read more:
SFA president Mike Mulraney added: “This summer I was asked about it. Could you not have looked far and wide and got the best candidate? I said, ‘We did. We were in Australia, Asia, America, everywhere. We scoured it far and wide and we got absolutely the best guy. He happened to be Scottish’.”
Meanwhile, Maxwell has insisted that SFA discussions with Rangers about the Vaclav Cerny penalty incident in the Premier Sports Cup final at Hampden on Sunday have been cordial.
“Talk of Rangers ‘demanding’ talks is nonsense, honestly,” he said. “Willie speaks to managers every Monday morning about the good, the bad and the ugly. That is his job, why he is there. he managers and Willie get on well. There is no ‘demand’. The word ‘demanding’ is nonsense, do me a favour. They phone up and they have a conversation.”
