I’ve just been schooled by someone with inside knowledge of the refereeing village on Planet Fitba.
He reminded me that there were currently only seven referees in Scotland on the FIFA list.
Actually, he didn’t remind me of that as I had no idea how many there were.
So he was breaking news to me.
However, by dint of his current employment, I’m not surprised that he has this information at his fingertips.
Apparently, FIFA grade referees are the only ones in Fair Caledonia that are allowed out to play with UEFA and international matches.
Moreover, he told me that it was something of “an unwritten rule” that the Glasgow Derby was only ever handled by one of these…ahem… elite officials.
Then he dropped it on me.
He said that the next FIFA grade referee in line to handle the Glasgow Derby was Andrew Dallas!
Oh dear…
Now, he might be mistaken on that, but I doubt it.
He’s a very sound source.
If this is wrong information from him then it is the first in nearly nine years.
Indeed, we’ve been chatting since back in the day when I had an impact on the employment situation of young Andrew’s dad.
A cynic might conclude that Dallas junior has been promoted past the point of his own competence.
Of course, I couldn’t possibly comment.
However, so far he does not seem to have suffered any observable penalties for his unfortunate officiating errors.
