Former SFA referee Steve Conroy has lifted the lid on some of the things he has observed while in the game as a top level whistler in Scotland.
Conroy, who openly admits to being a Celtic fan and proud of it has told how he was never asked to divulge any information about who he supports going through any level of the game. He also stated he knew of nobody else who was a Celtic fan at his level and that there were more Rangers supporting referees than Celtic as a matter of fact.
On who he supports, Conroy told BBC Sportsound “Celtic, always have done.” The ex-whistler was then asked if his allegiance was ever brought into the conversation “Nope. There was never any discussion on who you support and who you don’t.
“We are all into refereeing because we like football. And in this part of the world most are going to support Celtic or Rangers.
“Why open yourself up to other possible criticisms – corruption, conspiracy theories – just by saying what team you support.
“I certainly never minded telling people who I support. It’s out there so nobody can say anything afterwards.”
Conroy answered “Yes.” to the question ‘Are there more Rangers fans in top level refereeing than Celtic fans but couldn’t give a reason why that was the case “That’s a difficult one. Are there more Rangers fans than Celtic fans? I don’t know.
“Certainly I was openly a Celtic supporter. I’m not sure anyone else at my level was openly a Celtic supporter as well.”
“We are straying into corruption and conspiracies. There could be all sorts of reasons. It doesn’t worry me.”
The referee’s credibility has been thrown into question, especially this season with the number of strange decisions coming from certain whistlers.
Andrew Dallas’ ‘erratic’ performance at Ibrox on Saturday has shone a light on a problem that not many people in Scotland are comfortable talking about when it comes to their whistlers. Should people who support a club be allowed to referee their games? The English Premier league don’t seem to think they should and make sure every referee divulges who they support.
Former Ref Kenny Clark refused to admit any possibility that a referee would use his powers to advantage a team they support. Would not entertain the idea of even one incident where a referee could have been opportunistic. This from a man currently making money on the after dinner circuit telling some questionable stories about his time as a referee.
